


Coffee Shop Girl

by Muserobbin



Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: Airports, Christmas, Coffee Shops, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Instagram, Jets, London, New Years, Original Character(s), Paparazzi, Pining, Pumpkin Spice Latte, RPF, Smut, Trains, Twitter, jealous tom holland, loving moms, protective dads, steal your girl, winter vibes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:53:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26563168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muserobbin/pseuds/Muserobbin
Summary: Ellie is twenty years old and works in a coffee shop at Heathrow Airport in London, much to her parents disapproval. Her life consists of the secret Tom Holland fan account that she shares with her best friend, Luna, and of course, working her way up the ladder of the coffee shop corporate scheme. On a cool November morning, Ellie runs into the actor himself when he is separated from his security team, and she has no choice but to rescue him from the paparazzi. Cryptic Instagram and Twitter posts along with chance encounters with Tom and his entourage leave the pair wondering if this could be something more.
Relationships: Tom Holland/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 43
Kudos: 48





	1. The Sympathetic Nervous System

**Author's Note:**

> This is my baby. I hope you enjoy :)

There was a general sense of chaos at the London airport one cool winter morning as Ellie hurried back from her break. She had traded her afternoon shift with a hungover coworker who drank too much mulled wine at a holiday party the evening before. 

The idea of returning to posh American tourists had her grinding her teeth.

Ellie was really considering walking straight past the coffee shop and through the sliding doors of Heathrow International when she remembered the hit her bank account had taken the week prior when she went Christmas shopping. Either way, she was telling her coworker to sod off the next time they messaged her at 5am on a Sunday morning.

There was, however, a very enticing incentive for accepting the early shift: it was rumored that Tom Holland would be returning from America that day. Some of the fan accounts had reposted a photo taken by a fan with Tom in the Atlanta airport. He was apparently coming home for the holidays.

Ellie was aware of this because she had been one of the fan accounts to repost and speculate over the possibility.

There was a buzz of activity growing closer and several men dressed in black holding cameras rushed past. Airport security was not far behind.

“Aye, watch it!” Some poor chap called out in a Doncaster accent.

Something hit her own shoulder with such force that she gasped in shock as the slim figure darted right past her. He must have been running at full speed given that the hit had taken the breath right out of her. The man stopped in his tracks and glanced back before making a bee-line for her.

_ Oh, God. I’ll be robbed _ , she thought.  _ This is it. I knew it would always come to this _ . Her meaningless life would come to a meaningless end. She’d be on the five o’clock news. 

“Lend me your cap,” he begged.

It’s funny how in the moments when it matters most, one can pull it together enough to function despite the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. That was Ellie’s first thought when she came face to face with him. She could hear Dr. K’s voice in her mind and the incessant tapping of chalk on the board as she earnestly spoke about the fight or flight response. 

Ellie couldn’t breathe.  _ Play cool, play cool. Ellie, do NOT fuck this up _ .

“Here.” She thrust the cap into his hands.

“Thanks!”

However, the group of men Ellie realized were paparazzi were making a hasty approach. There were only ten steps left to the back entrance of the coffee shop.

Maybe this is it. Maybe this is what she was meant to do in life. This was her moment.

“Follow me!” She hissed and pulled his sleeve with her. He was resistant at first but had no other choice as the camera carrying mob threatened to downright run them the fuck over. 

It was a mad dash of ten steps in which Ellie was able to put her delayed reaction into good use.

They closed the door against the chaos, chests heaving.

Ellie glanced over at the young man breathing heavily next to her. His shoulders sagged with relief. Her own heart hammered in her chest while her mind swam with confusion trying to connect screen with reality. 

“Hi, I’m Tom.” Tom Holland said weakly, offering his hand.

“I know.” Ellie realized what she had said.  _ Fuck _ . “Sorry, I’m Ellie. I didn’t mean to be rude. I just know who you are is all.”

“Yeah, you and the rest of the world, apparently.” He joked. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Blood rushed through Ellie’s head as she attempted to muster the appropriate response.

“Oh my god.” Ellie breathed.

The door separating the front counter with the back of house swung open, then, allowing the noisy chaos to slip through/

“Ellie, what in the bloody he-” Luna’s cursing died on her lips when she saw who was next to Ellie. “Oh. My. God.”

Luna looked from Ellie to Tom then back, her eyes begging an explanation.

“What-?” Luna wasn't able to form the full question, but Tom seemed to understand.

“It’s actually a really funny story. You know how there are two entrances to bathrooms in airports? Well, security was waiting outside one entrance, and I got turned around- I get turned around, a lot. Anyway, I ended up walking out the opposite side, and someone noticed me. Then, well chaos ensued, and now I’m here talking to you two. You’re very kind, by the way, really saved my neck.” He said this last part Ellie who was busy un-swallowing her tongue.

“It’s no problem,” Ellie said smoothly wondering from which orifice she managed to pull that charisma.

“Yeah, none at all,” Luna echoed.

“Coffee?” Ellie offered.

“He drinks tea, darling,” Luna deadpanned.

Tom cracked up at that, “So, you two are fans?”

“You could say that,” Luna said, her eyes flicking over to Ellie’s which were begging Luna not to say anything stupid.

“Mhmm.”

“Well, you guys are really chill. I appreciate that.” Tom offered a smile, and the pair almost swooned.

“Anytime,” Ellie managed, and Tom smiled. Up close, his cheeks showed prominent dimples, and his teeth were even whiter than they appeared on screen. His eyes were a lovely liquid brown giving a sort of glimmer one could only find on a Christmas ornament. 

“I wish I had something to sign for you guys.” Tom was fumbling around in his backpack.

“Can we get a photo?” Luna suggested.

“Of course!”

They each took turns taking a photo with Tom before calling airport security to escort Tom back to his entourage and out to his car.

Before he left, however, he turned and said, “It was really nice to meet you both.”

Except he was only speaking to Ellie. 

Afterwards, they squealed jumping up and down for ten minutes and repeating back and forth.

“Did that just happen?”

“That just happened!”

It was the talk of the airport for the rest of the shift, and Ellie imagined for days to come. Usually, celebrities were able to get by unscathed, shrouded by their entourage. Their persona screamed untouchable, and it got worse the further down the list the celebrity was, possibly because an A-lister had more to lose than a D-lister.

Neither Luna nor Ellie had a car, and it was too cold to walk to the train station, so when Luna’s father picked them up that afternoon, he was bombarded with excitement. It took half the car ride to get the full story out because they were both talking at once, and even then, he didn’t get why it was *such* a big deal.

“It’s no like it’s RDJ,” Mr. McTavish had muttered under his breath.

This sent the girls off again as neither could fathom what it would be like to meet the king of Marvel himself.

“Oh, my God,” Ellied swooned. “And what if he and Tom arrived together.”

“And came up to our counter,” Luna swooned right back.

Mr. McTavish frowned. “I think he has a private helicopter, doesn’t he?”

Ellie and Luna grinned at each other at how Mr. McTavish’s attempt to conceal his love of RDJ had failed. He wasn’t any better than they were.

Luna frowned and shook her head to keep the dream alive. “Well, his helicopter has to land somewhere.” 

“You’ll never believe what happened today!” Ellie exclaimed as she walked through the door. 

Poppy, Ellie’s sister, had been lounging on the sofa upside down with her feet in the air.

She rolled over seemingly unimpressed with Ellie’s entrance but still interested. “What?”

“I met Tom fucking Holland!”

“What?” Poppy repeated as their parents said, “Ellie!” and “Language!” in unison.

Despite her aching feet, Ellie’s excitement was no lower than it had been all day, and she couldn’t even sit down. She paced back and forth, holding her phone above her hand in the air, victoriously as it contained her precious selfie. She had already sent it to Luna and her email so as to have backup copies in case, God forbid, something happened to her phone. 

Poppy narrowed her eyes, “Why do I believe you right now?”

“Because, it’s true, it’s true!” Ellie jumped up and down waving the selfie of her and Tom Holland.

“This is ridiculous, she’s twenty years old,” Their father grumbled and turned the volume up on the football match.

“Oh, it’s just a bit of fun, Dickie,” Alice soothed her husband but craned her neck to peer at Ellie’s phone.

“My room?” Poppy mouthed.

The sisters jumped up and took the stairs two at a time.

“Spill,” Poppy said, leaping onto her bed.

Ellie thrust her phone into her sister’s lap and remained standing. A fresh wave of adrenaline coursed through her as she recounted the story.

Poppy stared from the photo then back at Ellie. “You have to post this and tag him.”

The thought had already crossed her mind, but she was afraid that it would seem too thirsty. “Is that lame?”

“He totally was into you! How did you not get his number?”

“It’s Tom Holland. He doesn’t give his number out to complete strangers!” Ellie couldn’t help but feel like she had missed an opportunity, however, which felt often these days. She briefly thought of the stack of university applications on her desk that she always missed the deadline to complete.

“Well it was worth a short. The worst thing he could have said was no. Don’t know till you try.”

“How do you know so much about boys all of the sudden?” Ellie asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the fifteen-year-old.

“Because I have eyes, and I’m not dead.” Poppy groaned. “You’re worse than dad sometimes. I’m fifteen! Of course I know about boys.”

“Alright, alright! What should I say?”

They bounced ideas back and forth for a while before settling on a decent caption.

“Hardly anyone has noticed,” Ellie complained after an hour.

“Let me see.”

Ellie passed her phone over. Poppy rolled her eyes. “That’s because your account is private. Only your followers can see your posts. If you want Tom to see it, you’ll have to make your account public.”

“Oh.”

It was actually embarrassing how little she knew about technology, one of the things she and Tom had in common. They were probably the only ones their age with this trait.

Within a few minutes of making her account public, the fandom took off. 

The caption read, per Luna: Apparently he doesn’t just drink tea, dahling @tomholland2013 

The fandom was blowing up. The photo had over 2,000 likes and many were blowing up her DM’s.

Ellie and Poppy were barely able to contain their excitement through dinner. Their dad’s frown deepened with each ping of Ellie’s phone.

“Ellie, please silence your phone.” Their mother said.

“Who’s messaging you so much anyway?” Richard inquired. 

Ellie and Poppy exchanged a glance.

“Ellie posted her selfie with Tom Holland!”

“Who is that?”

No matter how mine posters Ellie put up on her bedroom wall, she had to explain who he was each time her dad came in. 

“Dad, he’s Spider-Man,” Ellie said.

“That movie is old. I don’t get what the big deal is, and you have the name wrong. I think you mean, Toby McGuire.”

Both Ellie and Poppy groaned. “No, dad,” Poppy corrected. “He’s the new Spider-Man.”

“Hm.” After a minute of chewing. “I don’t know why they feel the need to remake movies. It was fine the first time. It’s a money grab if you ask me.”

The sisters exchanged solemn glances while their mother smiled politely and cut into her roast. The family continued eating dinner in silence while they ignored the elephant in the room.

“Oh my God…” Poppy breathed..

“What?” Ellie frowned.

Poppy’s eyes were wide as she looked around the table.

“Poppy?” Alice asked, concerned.

“What is it?” Even Richard was leaning towards the phone out of curiosity.

Poppy held her breath and looked around the table, dramatically to build the tension. “Harrison Osterfield liked your post.”

“That’s it!” Richard exclaimed. “Put that thing away. I’m trying to eat.”

“Oh, Dickie, don’t get wound up,” Alice said.

Ellie and Poppy were practically vibrating in their seats. The phone was still resting on the table. Notification after notification flashed across the screen. They exchanged excited glances with each other then looked to their father who was becoming more red in the face by the minute.

When they both gasped, Richard sighed in exasperation. “What is it now?”

“Harrison tagged Tom Holland,” Poppy breathed.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake!”

“Richard!”

“Language,” the sisters exclaimed in unison and began laughing while the Captain America reference flew right over their parents’ heads.

Dinner resumed once more, but the energy remained heightened. It was hard to concentrate on chewing when Ellie was this excited, so she kept taking swig after swig of her drink so that she would appear somewhat invested in the meal her mother had so diligently prepared. 

Ellie choked when she next glanced at the screen. Poppy slapped her on the back dramatically.

“Breathe, sis, breathe!”

“Poppy, don’t slap your sister like that!” Alice exclaimed.

“But she’s choking!”

“She’s not choking if she can still breathe.”

When Ellie recovered, they chanced a glance with Richard. He was purple in the face now.

“What. Is. It.”

“Tom Holland liked Ellie’s post.”

There was a loud clang as their father dropped his utensils and slid his chair back from the table. “That’s it! I’m going to the living room where I can eat my dinner and watch the game. In peace!”

Alice gave the pair a look but there was a twinkle in her eye.

When the game was playing in the other room, they jumped up and screamed.

The volume became significantly louder after that.

Long after everyone else had gone to bed, Ellie lay in her own bed staring dreamily at her collection of Marvel posters and action figures, the majority of which were of Spider-Man.

The very next day she was planning on printing a hard copy of her selfie with Tom Holland and framing it. She would put it on her nightstand.

Finally, she had gotten her moment. Now that it was over, she felt that nothing like it would ever happen again.

They hardly ever saw celebrities in the airport, not at the coffee shop counter anyway. The majority of the time, the entourage of security hardly let so much as a peak of the celebrity. If they were nice, they would stop and take photos and sign posters.

The moment of a lifetime had occurred that very morning, and she couldn’t sleep. She messaged Luna.

Ellie, 11:53 pm: I’m still freaking out!

Luna, 11:56pm: I know right!

They chatted for a while discussing plans for the fan account. Luna ended up reposting Ellie’s selfie on the fan account but decided to leave the other photos off so as not to give away the account’s identity.

In the morning, things still hadn’t died down, and Ellie actually had to turn her notifications off for Instagram and adjust her DM settings so only her friends could send messages.

After a week, things began to die down.

After two, things were back to normal aside from the occasional like or comment. 

After three, things were depressing.

After four, Tom Holland was at the coffee shop counter.


	2. Decaf is Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie and Luna are closing the coffee shop for the evening when flight 1240 lands from Atlanta...

Luna and Ellie were the only ones left for the evening. Between bursts of passengers, they worked on their closing tasks. The fandom had been strangely silent as the holidays approached. The following week was Christmas.

The song Closing Time played softly on Luna’s speaker; their tradition as they prepared to shut it down for the night.

“Oh, here comes another wave,” Luna stated as a trickle of passengers turned into a long line.

“I guess flight 1240 finally arrived.”

They had been hearing announcements concerning the flight’s delay all evening due to inclement weather in Atlanta. It had been unseasonably warm there, apparently, creating a dangerous atmosphere for aircraft. Upon arriving, the plane had aborted landing three times according to an elderly woman ordering tea. Several of the passengers looked positively green. It appeared not many would be stopping for a late cuppa. 

Although they were mainly a coffee shop, they would lose business if they didn’t sell a mean cup of tea in the middle of London.

After hearing the same story about the flight several times from passengers who thought they were comedians, Ellie was quite bored.

“Hello,” a young man greeted her cheerfully. He looked familiar, but Ellie’s foggy brain couldn’t place him.

“Hi.” Ellie replied, not able to muster an ounce of customer service that the training videos stressed. 

The man squinted at her. “You look familiar.” He pointed at her then looked around searching for someone. His eyes stopped on another man in a ball cap rifling through a magazine rack across the way. He whistled, getting the other’s attention.

Impatient, Ellie insisted, “What can I get for you?”

“Decaf, please.”

Ellie wanted to tear her hair out. It was five minutes until close, and Luna had just poured out the last of the decaf and was now in the back washing it’s container. They would have to brew more which would mean a nice wait time. That would teach them.

“It’ll be about a five minute wait, that okay?”

The other man reached the counter, but Ellie refused to acknowledge him. “Will that be all?”

The blonde nudged his friend who shook his head.

_ Thank God _ .

Ellie rang up the transaction and began eyeballing coffee grounds for about a cup’s worth of coffee. She was aware of someone behind her leaning against the counter. It was the friend. The blonde had ducked into the restroom. A couple of others were now hovering around the counter, but they didn’t seem to want anything. They were scanning the area with their arms crossed. Ellie glanced around nervously. Odd.

She tapped her fingers on the counter and finally began wiping down the area trying to pass the time while the coffee brewed. It was awkward to say the least.

She felt eyes following her movements and glanced again at the men standing around.

“Can I help you?” She called.

“They’re with me,” the blonde’s friend replied.

“Oh.”

Ellie finally looked at him.

Her heart stopped because that very familiar face that she had seen weeks before was now right in front of her once more.

“Hello, again.”

She was at a loss for words.

“Hi,” she squeaked, dropping the rag she was holding.

“Don’t stop your cleaning on my behalf. You’ve done a stellar job of ignoring me so far.”

A flush crept up her neck, and she felt hot all over while her hands became very cold and clammy.

“S- sorry,” she stammered.

Tom Holland was smiling though; he was teasing her.

The blonde who she now recognized as Harrison Osterfield sidled up next to his friend. “Aw, back to Earth, are we?”

Ellie’s cheeks became impossibly redder.

“Rough night?” Harrison continued.

The timer finally went off making her jump. She was glad to have an excuse to turn her back on the pair and privately freak out.

“A bit.”

“Ready to go home?”

“You have no idea.”

“Ready to stop dealing with idiots like Harrison who come up at closing time?” Tom inserted.

Ellie giggled.

“Ready to stop listening to this guy attempt to flirt?” Harrison retorted.

Tom frowned. 

Ellie couldn’t believe her ears. 

The door opened from the back, and Luna appeared.

“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me. We’re closed.”

“And who gets employee of the month award? Not this one.” Harrison quipped.

Luna scrunched her nose at him but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Tom.

“We’re actually still open.”

“Oh, yeah, real clever. Stay open for him. Thanks, cheers,”

“Oh, sorry,” Luna said sweetly. “When does your next movie come out?”

“Luna!” Ellie found her voice.

Harrison put a hand to his chest dropping his mouth open. Ellie was glad that he didn’t seem truly offended by her friend’s comment.

“Yesss, finally someone who gives it back to him,” Tom snickered. 

“Says the one who begged me to stop by here in the first place. ‘Oh, I’ll just wait by the racks and see if she’s working first.’” Harrison changed his voice octaves higher to mock his friend.

_ Wait, what? _

Ellie and Luna exchanged a quick look. Ellie’s eyes were wide while Luna’s begged her to stay calm.

Tom’s red face confirmed this. Behind the duo, their security team fidgeted impatiently.

“Alright, alright. It’s getting late,” Tom said, fidgeting with his ball cap. 

Harrison planted his hip against the counter, leaning on an elbow. “I’m still good. I’ve got coffee. Very tasty, ladies.”

“Yeah, decaf,” Tom scoffed, pulling his friend away. “Have a good night!”

When the entourage disappeared through the sliding doors, Ellie and Luna allowed themselves to freak out.

“Did you hear what he said? Did you hear what he said?” Ellie yelled over and over.

“He likes you!” Luna sang.

“Harrison is seriously gorgeous.” Luna mused as she went through his Instagram profile. “How does he not have a movie is the question.”

“The poor man’s ego. I’ll bet you’ve fatally wounded it. Now, he’ll never have the confidence to audition again.”

“No, he gets my sense of humor.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m sure.”

Luna threw a pillow, but it missed Ellie’s head by a good 10 centimetres. They were having an emergency sleepover after the events of the evening. This always included a big bottle of wine to share between the two.

Ellie rubbed her feet and groaned. “Today was brutal though.”

“Damn straight.”

Ellie was now scrolling through Tom’s Instagram profile and cringing at the amount of times she had liked and commented on his posts. It was even worse when she realized that it wasn’t just Tom’s posts but his brothers’ as well. The past year had been difficult, and Tom’s sunny demeanor had been a major factor in getting her through it. It was just lucky that his whole family was about as interesting and sunny as he was. They were such a power family.

“Dear God,” she groaned. “He’ll think I’m a stalker.”

“As if he even looked through to check to see if you’re stalking him. He’s a man. They don’t think that way. They’re not trained to look over their shoulder at every turn.”

Ellie thought back to her father’s comments on social media. ‘It’s a sex offender’s paradise!’

Part of Ellie hoped that Tom was very aware of her Marvel commitment level so that they could get that out of the way. No surprises down the line would be optimal. She scoffed at her optimism. As if she had a chance… Anyone with eyes could see Zendaya, his lovely co-star with limbs for days.

But the other part of Ellie knew just how embarrassing all of this was. Here Tom was, starring in major productions while she worked at a coffee shop. What could they possibly have in common?

A played itself in her mind of herself at a Hollywood party, standing alone while Tom was surrounded by a flock of starlets who knew how movies worked and could complain about paparazzi together. What if they made fun of her for being such a huge fan? Was it not better to be disinterested, aloof? 

“What’s the point of even having a fan account if I’m just going to embarrass myself on my personal account?” Ellie sighed miserably.

“Marvel is like the best ever, though. He should be more worried if you weren’t into it,” Luna pointed out, finger held up and swaying slightly.

“Maybe… I’m going to be so hungover tomorrow.”

Ellie was in her room the next day recovering from the night before. The alcohol certainly had its effect on her, but she had a feeling that she needed to recover more from seeing Tom Holland again in the flesh. Thank God she had the day off.

She groaned at the unnecessary amount of calories and alcohol she and Luna had consumed the previous evening. It was time for a jog.

When Poppy saw that Ellie was decked out in running gear, she popped up from the couch.

“Can I come with you?”

“No,” Ellie responded moodily. The headache had yet to subside.

Poppy, however, looked put out by this.

“Maybe next time, champ,” she conceded. 

Her sister crossed her arms and sunk into the couch, sulking.

In the kitchen, their mother was at the counter stirring her afternoon tea.

“You should let her come along sometimes, you know,” Alice chastised. “One day you’ll be sad when she no longer asks.”

A bowl of guilt soup settled heavily in Ellie’s stomach, but she really needed alone time to think. There was a pile of applications waiting for ink on her desk and an expectant father wondering when she would need a ride to drop them in the post.

Ellie didn’t even know if she wanted to go to university at this point. Her parents were pushing for her to get a degree in “something useful,” as they put it such as nursing or teaching. However, Ellie wanted to go for something she actually wanted to pursue such as writing.

“Just remember,” Their father would say. “Writing doesn’t pay the bills.”

“It pays some people’s bills or else they wouldn’t do it.”

Richard had wrinkled his nose at that. “I suppose, if you want to live in an overpriced apartment the size of a closet while drinking lattes or whatever it is those ‘hipsters’ are drinking these days.”

“I’ll have you remember that I’ve won awards for my writing, so my apartment will be the size of a large walk-in, thank you.”

This conversation had taken place just the week prior as Alice had brought out the leftover Christmas postage from the previous year to send the applications off. They were unnerved to say the least to discover that the applications were not finished much less started.

It was with uni on her mind that she ventured out into the cold with a beanie pulled down over her ears and mittens on her hands to keep her fingers from freezing in the bitter wind.

“Bloody hell,” She murmured to herself not even a quarter of a mile in. 

Usually, Ellie liked to venture down to shops especially at this time of year because there were lights and decor strewn from light poles and shop windows accompanied by the smell of candied nuts. 

Wearing leggings and a hoodie was adventurous to say the least. She ducked into a doorway of an ornament shop to check the actual temperature on her phone. -3℃. There was a snowflake as well indicating the possibility of snowfall.

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,” Ellie blurted- a phrase she had acquired from Luna who had been binge watching Outlander. 

A pair of women her mother's age cast her reproachful looks as they passed.  _ Oh, sod off _ .

It appeared that if she wanted to keep all of her digits that she would have to cut her run short. Across the way, there was a coffee shop that she could hunker down in to regain feeling in her extremities.

Working in a coffee shop, Ellie didn’t usually make a point to visit any in her off time, however she would be making an exception that day. 

The bell on the door jingled when she entered. The familiar scent assaulted her senses and was almost immediately anxiety inducing. The poor baristas behind the counter were working extra hard to keep up with the holiday shoppers who had apparently the same idea as Ellie: to gain a bit of warmth in the bitter afternoon.

She took off her beanie and let her dark locks fall around her head. Her mittens were next as she waited patiently for her turn in line.

Ellie ordered a simple dark roast in place of the overpriced lattes and cappuccinos. A dollop of cream and sugar, and it wouldn’t make a difference to her. 

It was still £3. 

The first surge of warmth hit her tongue, and she didn’t care about the price anymore. There was an empty armchair in the corner that she made a beeline for. 

“Ellie!” A voice called before she could stake her claim, however.

None other than Harrison Osterfield was ducking between various patrons waiting for their order.

“Ellie,” the handsome blonde repeated when he was standing right in front of her. 

“H- Harrisson, hello.” 

“It’s bloody brutal out there, isn’t it?” Harrison was attired in similar apparel indicating that he was also out for exercise.

“I don’t remember telling you my name.”

He raised an eyebrow at this, and the corner of his mouth turned up. “I don’t remember giving mine either. I guess we’re both a pair of internet stalkers.”

Ellie wanted to drown herself in the hot liquid in her cup.

“Touche.” She replied coolly instead. Unsure of what to make of this chance meeting and slowly panicking on the inside, she glanced over to the corner for safety.

The open armchair in the corner was now occupied. Harrison followed her gaze.

“Fancy a walk?”

Was this even real? What god had decided to put a little sunshine in her life? Perhaps the god of coffee beans was fond of her; maybe she had appeased him with her endless devotion to airport coffee. 

“That’s a bit counterproductive, don’t you think?”

_ Oh, God. Ellie! You do not turn down Tom Holland’s attractive best friend when he asks you to go for a walk with him _ .

“Nah,” Harrison waved a hand. “We have this sweet nectar to keep us warm.”

“Well, alright.”

“Adda girl.”

They walked along the street heading in the opposite direction of Ellie’s neighborhood. She cast a wistful look towards home before deciding to screw all and enjoy the moment. It was decided that she had definitely been run over on her run and was in some sort of coma.

“Just couldn’t get enough coffee on your day off, then?” Harrison teased bumping her shoulder with his own. His blue eyes shined with mischief. This definitely felt disingenuous to her Tom Holland fan account.

Ellie rolled her eyes. “I asked them if they could just use a syringe, but they said something about how HSE doesn’t allow that anymore, can you believe it?”

Harrison chuckled at that.

“I was out for a jog, actually, that turned out to be rather poorly timed.”

“Same. Tom refused to come with me. What a shame; he will have missed seeing you.”

There was a break in his swagger as he cast a nervous glance to Ellie. He had said too much.

Ellie didn’t know how to process the fact that she was walking with Harrison Osterfield nor the fact that he had revealed a very interesting piece of information.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Harrison continued. “Just saw you last night and again today. You’re not like a stalker or anything, are you?”

“I should be asking you the same!” Ellie retorted. “I was going about my merry way in a coffee shop when I was bombarded.”

He narrowed his eyes playfully before laughing. “No, you’re more like the coffee whisperer or something. Wait, why do you work in the airport when there's a coffee shop so close to your house?”

Ellie was used to being asked this question, so she replied rather defensively though it was unintentional. “I like airports, okay?”

“Airports? What’s so great about airports?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s this vibe. Look, you don’t know if you don’t know.” Ellie waved her hand.

“No, no. I’m intrigued. Tell me about this airport vibe that I’m missing.” And Harrison truly did look interested in the fading afternoon light. The air had become crisp, but she wasn’t cold anymore.

“Well, there’s this sense of coming and going, and I really don’t know how to explain this.”

She nervously sipped from her coffee. 

Her companion nodded to himself. “Coming and going, I like it.”

The Christmas lights glowed around them as they moved through the street. 

“Have you done your holiday shopping?” Ellie inquired.

“Guilty as charged. I’m a terrible holiday shopper. I’ll probably have Tom do most of it if I’m being honest.”

Ellied couldn’t help herself. “Does Tom like holiday shopping?”

“Oh, yeah. He lives for that stuff. What about you?”

“Already finished,” she admitted sheepishly. “My poor pocketbook actually hurts. Do you hear that? It’s weeping.”

Harrison laughed at that. “It’s saying, ‘Oh, help me, help me.’ The poor thing. You should give it a break next year.”

“Never.” Ellie replied appalled at the idea of not giving her best to her family.

A notification flashed across Harrison’s watch, and he held it up to read it better. “Ha ha! It’s Tom wondering what’s taking so long. I promised I’d buy garam masala on my way back. He’s in charge of dinner tonight, poor lad.”

Ellie did not allow herself to freak out about Tom Holland being talked about so casually. They were friends, they freaking lived together! And Tom was cooking dinner. She wondered whether it was possible for Tom to be even more perfect.

“Let’s tease him, shall we?” 

Then Harrison was holding up his phone, and they were taking a selfie together. He had his mouth open in shock while she smiled noncommittally trying not to seem too eager.

“Look who I found,” Harrison said slowly as he typed then sent it off. “Well, I guess I had better pop over to the grocery before he has my head. It was nice seeing you.”

“Yeah, you too.”

There was another notification that Harrison read. He tilted the watch away, so that Ellie couldn't see. “Ha ha! He’s threatening me.”

“Oh?”

“Doesn’t want me to say too much, apparently. Whatever that means.” Harrison rolled his eyes up to the sky indicating he knew exactly what it meant. Oh, how Ellie would kill to see the exact message. “Well, anyway. I’m off. See you around.”

Ellie waved, and just like that, Harrison was gone.


	3. Party Hat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harrison invites Luna and Ellie to a house party...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore this chapter, and I hope you do as well <3

“Tom Holland has a crush on you,” Luna said matter of factly into the phone.

“Dear God, no he does not. He doesn’t even know me, and please don’t give my head any ideas. That is a bad idea.” 

Ellie lay across her bed twiddling her hair in her fingers. She had run straight home and to her bedroom to call her best friend.

“I mean, who even just runs into Harrison Osterfield?” Luna had said.

“I don’t know… maybe we were actually around each other before, but I didn’t notice him, and he didn’t hold up a sign announcing himself. I don’t know, Luna. 

There was a gasp on the other side of the phone.

“What? What is it?”

“Harrison has just tweeted something.”

“Well, what does it say?” Ellie asked impatiently.

“‘You can take the girl out of the coffee shop but you apparently can’t keep her away.’ Ellie, he’s talking about you!”

“No fucking way,” Ellie whispered to herself.

“Yes, way! Go see for yourself.”

“I’m going, I’m going.”

“They’re calling you the Coffee Shop Girl. They must’ve made the connection to the photo you posted.”

The fandom was pretty sharp like that and always eager to make connections about their favourite celebrity. 

“Well? You have to say something!”

_ Say something? What did one say to that? It was so… cryptic. _

“Oh, God, what do I say?” Ellie wailed.

“Stay calm. Let’s think of something. Wait, you do realize that Harrison was going to the grocery and was walking, right? You actually live near Tom fucking Holland.”

Ellie let out another wail. “Don’t tell me something like that at such a critical moment; I need to think!”

“Sorry, sorry.” But she didn’t sound sorry at all. Luna sounded very much as excited out of her head as Ellie. “What even is our life right now?”

“Luna!”

“Sorry, okay. Let’s think.”

Ellie10195: The HSE doesn’t allow intravenous coffee anymore :/

“It’s totally lame isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not lame. Let’s give it some time. He’s clearly trying to get your attention, and since he knows you follow him, he knows that you’ll see it.”

“My attention. For what?” Ellie wouldn’t allow herself to go there, wouldn’t even consider it. 

“Don’t be daft, Ellie. Clearly, Tom’s talked about you before or else Harrison wouldn’t have made a big deal over it. He wouldn’t have stopped to chat, go for a  _ walk, hello? _ nor post about it on Twitter. There’s very clearly something he wants to say.”

“And,” Her friend continued. “That whole little thing last night.”

“This is too much for me.”

“No. it’s not. You’ve got to keep your chin up. Come on, let’s power through this!”

“Oh, Luna. I really don’t think I can take this.”

The bedroom door flew open, and Poppy bounced in clutching her phone.

“What’s this about a coffee shop girl?”

Ellie sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Then, why did you reply? I could’ve helped you come up with a better reply, you know, if you included me every once in a while.” She was still upset about not going with Ellie on her run earlier and would be even more so now after discovering that she had run into Harrison Osterfield.

“I’m sorry, Poppy,” Ellie began.

“Save it. I lost my one chance at meeting Harrison Osterfield, and you’ve met him twice!” Poppy plopped down on the bed next kicking off her houseshoes.

“I really am sorry, Pops. You can come with me next time.”

“But Harrison won’t even be there next time.”

“You don’t know that…” Ellied tried once more, but her sister was now scrolling through the comments underneath the tweet. A new notification popped up.

“You guys,” Ellie began.

“What is it?” Luna called through the phone.

Poppy leaned closer to see for herself as her sister’s mouth was failing to function. “Tom Holland liked her comment.”

Then, they were all three screaming at once.

“Ellie, he’s trying to get your attention! I told you!”

Poppy was jumping up and down with a tight grip around Ellie’s shoulders apparently having forgotten the calamity of that afternoon.

“And, now Harrison’s liked it,” Poppy continued. “Tom liked it first, though. Can you believe it? It’s like he was looking out for it!”

Ellie was now on her back in bed spread eagle. “This can’t be real, this can’t be real.”

“Poppy,” Luna called. “How is she? Do you need to get a bucket of ice water?”

“I don’t know. She keeps saying the same thing and not responding to me.”

Ellie was vaguely aware that her sister and friend were concerned about her wellbeing, but she needed time to process. She was able to come around, however, before Poppy dumped a pot of ice water over her head.

“Poppy, stop! What on earth are you doing?!”

“Is she back with us, then?” Luna asked.

“I think so,” Poppy replied, putting the pot aside.

“What’s going on up there?” Their father called from the stairwell.

“Nothing!” The sisters replied in unison. They certainly weren’t going to relive the moment with Richard considering his reaction from a few weeks ago.

“Oh, goodness,” Poppy said suddenly. She had taken custody of the phone while Ellie was recovering. 

“What is it?”

“Give me my phone!”

“Harrison Osterfield sent a message request!”

Ellie’s eyes glazed over as she thought of every possible message he could possibly send.

“How is she?”

“I don’t know… she looks a little pale.”

“That’s it. I’m coming over!”

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang, and there was a loud pair of feet rushing up the stairs. Ellie was sure Luna even slipped a few times.

“I came as soon as I could!” The girl herself hollered as she burst through the door.

“Yeah, we can tell,” Poppy teased.

From downstairs, they could hear Richard grumbling. “They’re twenty years old, for God’s sake…”

Then, “Oh, Dickie… Let them have their fun.”

Luna closed the door. “Okay, update me. I’m ready.”

“Well,” Poppy began. “We accepted the request, and Harrison wants to know if Ellie can come to a party tomorrow night.”

“And what’s the holdup?” Luna narrowed her eyes, zeroing in on her best friend.

“Ellie doesn’t know what to say.”

“What to say? What do you mean you don't know what to say? When Harrison Osterfield asks if you want to go to a party that Tom Holland will most likely be at, you say yes!”

“And even if Tom Holland wasn’t going, you’d still say yes,” Luna continued, then noticing Ellie wasn’t making any moves, held out her hands for the phone.

Ellie passed it over reluctantly. “At least ask where it will be.”

“In a minute.” Luna made a shooing motion with her hand.

“What did you say?” Poppy asked curiously trying to peer at the screen.

“Sure, and can Luna come with.”

“Of course,” Ellie rolled her eyes.

“What about me?” Poppy asked.

“What about you. You’re fifteen!”

“Yeah, I’m fifteen, not dead!”

“You’re not going to a party. Mum would have me head.”

“So?”

“So?!”

“We don’t have to tell her.”

“Poppy!” 

Poppy crossed her arms over her chest and lay down her back with a forceful thump. “You never let me go anywhere with you. It’s not fair!”

“Poppy, it’s a party! For adults.”

“Adults, shmadults. You don’t even act like one 90% of the time anyway.”

“Don’t start with me,” Ellie warned hating that her sister was bringing her marvel decor into this. It cut right to the core. Her love for everything Marvel was what kept her going most days.

“He’s sent the address, guys.”

Ellie and Poppy forgot their argument and leaned over to get a look.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Ellie said. “Look up their address.”

Luna grinned. “Now you’re starting to think.”

She put the address in and waited. Ellie’s hands were shaking so bad that she let Luna have full reign of the phone.

“It’s close by. Only a few minutes by car.” She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Ellie, you don’t think?”

“What?” Ellie said slowly not, her brain losing higher function.

“Is that Tom Holland’s house?” Poppy asked the question they were all wondering.

“Quick!” Ellie cried. “Ask him if that’s his house; they live together!”

Now, Luna’s hands were shaking as she typed out the response. 

They waited, breathing heavily with noses practically pressed to the screen.

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ.”

There was a security officer at the gate of the driveway leading up to a mid-size house. It was in the next neighborhood over from Ellie’s, and they had walked carrying their heels. 

Once they had given their names, they approached the house with some trepidation. The very foundation was throbbing from the music, and shouting could be heard when the door opened and a small group exited, cigarettes in hand.

“Whassup,” someone called to the pair, and they called out their own greetings as they moved past the group and threw the front door.

The house was packed. They squeezed down the hallways towards what appeared to be the main room. There were several bottles of alcohol lining the counter of the island in the kitchen. Music was blasting from an expensive sound system creating a deafening effect. Couples were bumping and grinding, and everyone was generally on top of one another. The back door was open revealing even more people and a fire pit. Things seemed calmer out there.

Immediately, Ellie began looking around for a friendly face, either Harrison or Tom himself. There were several groups scattered around in the next room chatting amicably. Ellie briefly wondered if they knew each other through Tom or if the party had simply gotten out of hand at this point.

Ellie and Luna exchanged uneasy glances when a loud cheer erupted from the kitchen where a game of beer pong was being held at the table. Just when things felt too overwhelming, someone tapped on Ellie’s shoulder.

“Hey!” Harrison greeted leaning in for a hug. Ellie reciprocated in a daze. “I thought you’d bailed on me for a minute.”

Truthfully, Luna had insisted that they should show up around 11 though the party had technically started at nine. This was more her friend’s forte, so Ellie had gone along with it.

“Well we’re here now,” She smiled easily. “Thanks for inviting us.”

Harrison waved a hand at that. “Where are your drinks?” 

“We haven’t gotten to that part yet,” Luna shouted.

“That,” He pointed. “Must be remedied immediately.”

Harrison led them back to the island in the kitchen. “What’s your poison?”

“Vodka tonic for me. Ellie?”

“Vodka lemonade?”

Harrison and Luna exchanged a look.

“What?”

“She doesn’t get out much,” Luna told Harrison, taking her drink.

Ellie poked her friend in the ribs and glared. Luna simply smiled back. 

“Come out back,” Harrison called after their drinks had been taken care of. He led them through the bursting crowd and into the crisp night air.

A few people glanced their way from their spots around the fire pit. 

Away from the chaos, Ellie relaxed and sipped at her drink to clear the rest of her nerves.

Harrison introduced them to a few of his friends from school, and there were even some cast from Billy Elliot. 

“Fire king! Come manage this shit; I think I broke it.” Someone called.

“That’s my cue.” Harrison excused himself to handle their heat source against the December air.

Ellie glanced around as discreetly as possible. 

“Where is he?” She whispered to Luna who shrugged. 

Luna was more concerned with Harrison who was busy shoving a piece of wood in the fire nearly burning himself in the process.

“Oh! You’re doing it wrong,” Luna chastised jumping up from her seat.

“So,” A boy named Luke said to Ellie. He had been in Billie Elliot with Tom. “How do you know Harrison?”

“I don’t,” Ellie admitted. “Met him the other day in the airport, then we ran into each other yesterday, and he invited us over tonight.”

“Friendly bloke, isn’t he?” 

Ellie chuckled, “Yeah.”

“I swear he’d invite a serial killer right over. ‘Yeah, yeah. Come in. Put your chainsaw down and relax a while.’” 

Upon seeing Ellie’s face, he clarified, “Not that I think you’re a serial killer or anything.”

Ellie laughed it off and glanced around once more. She had drank most of her vodka lemonade and needed the bathroom.

“I’ll be back.” She told Luke.

Ellie was met with a wall of humidity tinged with the smell of sweaty bodies and alcohol. She felt sorry for whoever would be cleaning up the next day. There were a few people leaning against the metal, futuristic staircase. Thinking those bathrooms had a better chance of being unoccupied, Ellie made her way up to the second floor. It would be a lie to say she didn’t want to see more of Tom Holland’s house. Thus far, she had not seen the man himself and wondered if he was even there at all. Perhaps he was out for the evening, and Harrison had thrown the party behind his back.

The house with its big windows and metal staircase reminded her a bit of Tony Stark’s decor in the MCU. Unlike Tony’s, however, the wood of the kitchen balanced out the cool effect of the glass and metal so it didn’t seem so sterile. She was sure that the house was rather charming when there weren’t drunk people flailing around.

There was a small line outside a door that she assumed was the bathroom and got in it.

When it was Ellie’s turn, she did her business then checked her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed pink from the alcohol, and her eyes were sparkling with nervous excitement.

Overall, she felt more calm now that she’d had a moment to herself.

Back downstairs, she made herself another drink. Afterall, it was a party, and she was way too sober. She thought she saw what looked like Harry Holland chatting with the DJ and leaned against the counter to observe this interesting development. 

“Hello again,” A voice said in her ear.

She spun around. 

He was hardly recognizable with the beanie pulled down over his forehead, but it was, indeed, Tom Holland. 

Ellie said the first thing that popped into her head. “Please tell me you knew your bestie was throwing a rager in your living room.”

Tom laughed. “I did know, actually. But I’ll admit,” He gazed around him. “It’s gotten a bit out of hand.”

“I figured. I could always call the cops for you,” She volunteered hoping her banter was decent; she wasn’t prepared for his answer.

“If you do that, I’ll lose my chance to dance with you.” He fixed her pointedly with those curious brown eyes. Her heartbeat stuttered while her brain caught up.

“Smooth.”

Tom flashed an embarrassed smile. “That bad, huh?”

“Not bad at all. I think it’s nice to get behind that lovely façade you actors put up.”

He smirked. “ _ You actors _ . How do you know I’m not acting right now?”

Ellie blinked. That was a good point. Tom looked triumphant.

“I guess I don’t,” She admitted.

Tom didn’t reply but kept his eyes on her face. She glanced nervously around the room for something to do and took a swig of her vodka lemonade, and cringed.

“Oh God! That’s awful.” The ratio of vodka to alcohol was high.

Tom crinkled his eyebrows. “Didn’t you make that?”

How long had he been watching her? It occurred to Ellie that someone in the same beanie and hoodie had been at the beer pong table earlier and again outside.

She blushed. “Yeah, I did. Harrison made me the first one, but apparently, I need more practice.”

“Let me make it for you,” Tom offered, then gestured to the array of bottles and mixers. “Pick your poison.”

His words echoed Harrison’s; they spent way too much time together, she decided.

“Vodka lemonade?”

Tom’s face scrunched up comically. “You serious?”

Ellie ran her hand through her hair nervously. “It’s the only one I know, really.”

Tom rolled his eyes playfully. “Alright, step aside.”

She couldn’t resist. “Is Spider-Man here to save the day?”

“Well… yes, actually.” He grinned.

Though he hadn’t seemed to mind the joke, Ellie apologized anyway. “Sorry, that was a bad joke. You probably hear that all the time.”

Tom shrugged but didn’t deny it. He was busy making some sort of complicated cocktail. 

“Show off,” She muttered to herself.

Tom just winked.

_ Oh, dear Lord… _ Well, that shut her up.

“Try that,” He said, setting down a blue drink.

Ellie wrinkled her nose and sniffed the mysterious liquid. “What is it?”

“Blue Lagoon.”

“Oh, I like those.” She heartily took a gulp.

Tom held his hands out dramatically. “Well, why didn’t you suggest it, then?”

“Didn’t come to mind.” She took a few more swigs of the delicious liquid. The alcohol rushed through her veins creating a light flush that started in her chest then went up through her neck to her cheeks and the very tips of her ears.

“Alright, alright,” Tom chastised, taking the drink from her. “You don’t get out much, do you?”

Ellie plucked the cherry from the glass and shook her head sucking the flesh from the stem.

“I meant what I said earlier, about the dancing, I mean.” Tom actually looked anxious, Ellie realized through her hazy mind.

“Oh, gosh. I don’t know how I’ll hold up against Billy Elliot.”

Tom wrinkled his nose at her bad joke.

“Heard that one before, I assume.”

“Maybe. You’re just stalling.” He pointed out.

She raised her hands in defeat. “You caught me. I can’t dance.”

“I take that as a challenge,” Tom poured a shot of tequila for himself. “Cheers.” Then downed it and poured himself another.

“Alright, alright,” Ellie laughed. “You’re barely bigger than me. I know you must be floating by now.”

Tom downed the second shot anyway and let out a whoop. A few others echoed him.

“It’s a party, relax. Besides, Harrison won’t be sober enough until tomorrow. No use in yelling me head off now.”

Ellie let him take her hand and pull her to the center of the crowded room. Once in the center, Tom swayed back and forth goofily, holding her hands in his.

“Relax, darling.”

But the way he said darling was like the way he said, ‘I drink tea, dahling.” From the YouTube video, and that was very distracting for Ellie. How was it possible for one person to be so incredibly adorable, talented, and  _ sexy _ ?

She slowly unraveled from cloud nine to hear the beginnings of ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ coming through the sound system.

“I love this song!” Tom exclaimed, undulating his body and throwing a fist up to the beat. 

Ellie let her body sway in rhythm as well.

“There you go, girl!” Tom cheered.

Then, he pulled her hips to his.  _ Oh my God… _

“Is this okay?” 

She was vaguely aware of the question but nodded. “More than.” 

Ellie wanted to chastise herself for not thinking of a better response, but her brain was still stuck on the sweet way Tom had asked her the question. Was he even real?

Feeling the music, she spun around so her ass was pressed up to him. He instantly grabbed her hips, and they moved together until the song molded into another.

“Let’s get some water,” He suggested and led her by the hand through the crowd.

They were both sweating badly despite the back door being wide open.

After they downed their water, Tom leaned against the counter.

“You dance well. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ellie blushed at the compliment and lowered her eyes, shrugging.

“Are you always this shy?” He teased.

She took a deep breath. The alcohol was like a truth serum. “This whole thing makes me nervous,” She gestured to the room around them including Tom. “ _ You _ make me nervous.”

He looked guilty. “Sorry. I tend to have that effect. God, that sounded super narcissistic. I just meant that I’m me, a person.” He blushed himself this time allowing a flash of the man behind the actor. 

“No, it’s okay. I think I understand.”

“Do you want to go somewhere more private?” He blurted suddenly.

_ What? _

Ellie’s eyes popped open wide.

“To chat, I mean.” He clarified.

Tom Holland wanted to take her somewhere private.

“Um, okay?”

Tom grinned and took her hand again. Ellie realized they were headed for the stairs which meant his bedroom. She gulped and looked around to see if anyone noticed what was happening. No one seemed to have caught on to the fact that Tom Holland was currently leading a female up to his bedroom.

They had just reached the stairs when Ellie stopped in her tracks. A young brunette with very much her own features was sitting on a couch chatting to a boy.  _ Poppy. _

“I’m sorry,” She apologized to a confused Tom. “It’s just that’s my sister over there. She must have followed me.”

Tom was still confused.

“She’s  _ fifteen _ .”

“Oh.” His gaze followed where she was pointing then his eyebrows scrunched up as he squinted. “Is that Paddie?”

Indeed, Paddie Holland was chatting up Poppy on the sofa.

Tom looked pissed. “He’s not supposed to be here. Mum’s going to kill me.” He ran his hands over his face. “Come on.”

Ellie followed him over to their delinquent siblings. Poppy was twirling her hair flirtatiously while Paddie had a hand on her knee. 

They both folded their arms standing above their siblings. Poppy glanced up first then cowered into her seat. Paddie was next and shrank under his older brother’s glare.

“Home. Now.” Tom said between clenched teeth. It was adorable, but Ellie didn’t allow herself to soften.

“You followed me here?” She said to her own sibling.

“How did you expect me to stay home?” Then she lowered her voice. “We’re in Tom Holland’s  _ house _ .”

They both looked reflexively at Tom who was busy chastising Paddie. Harry had appeared out of thin air as well.

“I’m calling Sam,” Harry was saying. “He’ll make sure he gets home.”

Poppy looked to her sister conspiratorially, but Ellie’s glare was harsh enough to shut her down. Harry walked Paddie out, and Tom turned back to the pair.

“I’m sorry, I’ve got to get her home.” 

Tom waved a hand at that. “It’s okay. Believe me, I understand.”

“Okay…” Ellie stood there awkwardly for a few moments while Poppy watched with wide eyes swaying back and forth. “I guess I’ll see you around.” 

She turned to go, but Tom touched her shoulder gently. “Not so fast.” He had his phone in his hand. “What’s your number?”

Poppy’s excitement was enough for the both, and Ellie coolly gave her number sending warning glances to her sister that meant, ‘We’ll talk about this when we get home.’

“Okay. Cool.” Tom pocketed his phone. “I’ll text you.”

“Alright.”

“Alright.”

Ellie waved awkwardly, and they were off to collect Luna.


	4. Family Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie messages with a certain someone, and the family end up at the restaurant where Harry Holland works...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long! Enjoy :) <3

It was mid afternoon the following day when she received the first message.

Unknown, 04:10pm: Hey

Unknown, 04:10pm: It’s Tom.

Ellie who had been clutching her phone all day shot up from her chair at the table, nearly knocking over her tea in the process.

“Ellie!” Her mother chastised. “What are you doing?”

Poppy caught her eye and grinned excitedly. The three were playing scrabble while having a cuppa.

Ellie had agreed to stay quiet about the fact her sister had snuck out the night before. What was important was that she was home and safe. 

“It’s nothing, Mum.”

“Is it a boy?” She bit into a biscuit. “It must be. I’d know that grin anywhere.”

“Tom’s texted her,” Poppy supplied.

“Ah, so things went well at the party?”

Their mother had curled her hair the evening before.

“I suppose,” Ellie admitted.

“That’s exciting.”

“I suppose.”

“If you say suppose one more time, you’ll be an absolute idiot,” Poppy laughed.

Their mother threw her a chastising look.

“But what do I say?!”

“Well, one could start by simply responding,” Alice said as she placed down her letters on the board.

Ellie scoffed. “It’s not that simple, though. It’s  _ Tom Holland _ ,” She stressed.

“And Tom Holland is just a person like anyone else. Treating him like he’s different is a quick way to lose him.”

“Words of wisdom,” Poppy agreed.

Ellie sighed. “Okay.”

Ellie, 04:17pm: Hey, how are you?

She quickly relabeled him in her phone as well. Both Poppy and Alice were leaning in to see the phone screen.

“There you go!” Alice cheered.

“He’s typing back,” Poppy said excitedly.

They were still leaning in to the point she could feel their breath on her cheek. “A little privacy, please.”

They went back to the game.

Tom, 04:20pm: I had a killer hangover this morning but better now.

Tom, 04:20pm: You?

This made sense especially if he’d played beer pong before the tequila shots.

Ellie played her word and went back to her phone.

Ellie, 04:23pm: I feel fine.

Ellie, 04:23pm: You killed Harrison yet?

Tom, 04:24pm: No

Tom, 04:25pm: But I want to

She chuckled at the ridiculous amount of people present last night. 

Ellie, 04:26pm: God. What a mess that must’ve been this morning

Tom, 04:27pm: That’s part of the reason why I haven’t killed him yet. He cleaned everything before I even woke up

Tom, 0427pm: Sneaky bastard

“Alright, if no one is going to pay attention to the game, I think I'll start dinner.” Alice said standing up.

Poppy was also invested in a text conversation and was smiling at her screen. Ellie bumped her leg.

“What’s got you so happy? It’s not Paddy, is it?”

Poppy blushed.

“Poppy! You didn’t tell me you exchanged numbers.” She’d only been half joking, after all.

Poppy rolled her eyes. “He got my number after like five minutes. Some of us are cool like that.”

Ellie rolled her eyes back and tapped her fingers on the table trying to figure out how to reply. She didn’t have to think long before a new message came through.

Tom, 04:35pm: So what are you up to?

Ellie, 04:36pm: Maybe Harrison knows your dark side… lol

Ellie, 04:37pm: Just finished a game of scrabble with the fam. You?

She went to her bedroom while waiting for Tom to reply and threw herself onto her stomach on the bed.

Tom, 04:40pm: Just chilling with Tess

Ellie let out a little scream. The fact that she was talking to Tom Holland rushed over her again when he mentioned his dog so casually. 

Tom, 04:41pm: That’s my dog, btw

Ellie remembered the words her mother had said earlier during scrabble and tried to school her brain into thinking of Tom as just a normal guy. Of course, he couldn’t know that she knew who Tessa was. But she decided to answer truthfully.

Ellie, 04:42pm: Would you be freaked out if I told you I know who Tessa is?

She waited biting her nails.

Tom, 04:43pm: Not at all. It’s cool

But was it really? She contemplated running to Poppy’s room to figure out how to respond, but that was just silly. She was five years older than her sister. She ought to have more experience than a fifteen year old. But she really didn’t. She’d never had a boyfriend in school and hadn’t had one until she had been out for a year. He’d worked at the coffee shop. She thought she’d been in love until he became a flight attendant a short while later and ended things but making sure to take her virginity first. She’d imagined jet setting off with Nick using his heavy discount for tickets. But it didn’t happen.

Ellie thought of the way Tom had asked, “Is this okay?” When he put his hands on her hips.

Tom, 04:56pm: I can feel you overthinking through the phone

Shit, how’d he know?

Ellie, 04:57pm: You really don’t mind that I’m a fan?

Tom, 04:57pm: I really don’t.

Tom, 04:58pm: Promise.

Ellie, 04:59: Alright :)

She sent a gif of Captain America giving a thumbs up.

Tom, 05:01pm: Yesss 

Tom, 05:01pm: Captain America, big fan. Spider-Man 

Ellie laughed loudly to herself and was glad the door was shut knowing she looked like a complete idiot.

Ellie, 05:03pm: You did not

Tom, 05:03pm: Oh yes I did.

Tom, 05:04pm: Question.

Ellie’s heart accelerated. What could he possibly ask? Her mind raced with the possibilities.

Tom, 05:04pm: Who’s your favourite Avenger?

_ Shit _ . Ellie knew if she answered honestly, it would be embarrassing. But if she didn’t, he could be offended.

Ellie, 05:05pm: Spider-Man 

She held her breath.

Tom, 05:06pm: Good.

Tom, 0506pm: Better be

Ellie grinned.

The door swung open just then and Poppy came through. “Mum says to get dressed. She decided that she’s not cooking after all.”

“Where are we going?”

“Don’t know. Some fancy place, I can’t even pronounce the name.”

Ellie, 05:07pm: Got to go. Apparently we’re going out for dinner

Tom, 05:08: Oh, where?

“Mum, where are we going for dinner?” She shouted down the stairs.

Ellie told Tom the name.

Tom, 05:11pm: That’s hilarious

Ellie, 05:11pm: Why

Tom, 05:12pm: That’s where Harry works. 

Tom, 05:12pm: Do me a favour and annoy the absolute shit out of him tonight will you 

Ellie laughed aloud. How crazy was this? She lived just minutes from the Hollands’ yet hadn’t started running into them until after meeting Tom at the airport of all places. Or maybe they had always been there, and she’d never noticed. She liked to imagine that she would’ve recognized Harry tonight, but she wasn’t so sure.

How many times had she passed Tom himself on the sidewalk and simply had never noticed? She thought back to the beanie at the party. Maybe he was just good at not drawing attention to himself.

Ellie, 05:13pm: I could never 

Tom, 05:14pm: That’s no fun :(

Ellie, 05:14pm: Ok, I really have to get ready now.

Tom, 05:15pm: Just go as you are. I’m sure you look great 

Ellie tried not to think too hard about that.

Ellie, 05:15pm: Ha ha. Some people need more than just a pretty face to eat at a fancy restaurant 

Tom, 05:15pm: You think I’m pretty?

She wanted to smack herself right between her eyes. 

Her mother called from downstairs, “Almost ready, girls?”

“Fuck.” Ellie muttered.

She didn’t have time to answer until she was in the car.

Ellie, 05:41pm: Don’t get a big head 

Tom, 05:42pm: :)

Tom, 05:43: Took you long enough to answer

Her heart fluttered at keeping Tom waiting, and he was obviously keen. 

Ellie, 05:44pm: I had to get ready 

Ellie, 05:45pm: And you are DISTRACTING

Tom, 05:46pm: What makes you say that, darling 

Poppy nudged her and grinned. She’d been reading their messages.

Ellie angled her phone away from her sister who pouted.

She decided to bite the bullet. They’d arrived at the building, and she wouldn’t be able to message throughout dinner, so she had time to work up the nerve to read his response.

Ellie, 05:52pm: Your pretty face 

In the elevator, Ellie whispered to her sister, “Apparently Harry works at this restaurant.”

Poppy’s eyes got really big. “No way.”

“Way.”

The elevator doors opened up just outside of the restaurant. A host greeted them and led them to their table next to a large window overlooking the city.

“Fancy,” Poppy commented.

Both her and Ellie cast glances around discreetly looking for the younger Holland.

After a while, Poppy nudged her side and gestured to a curly haired waiter. “It’s him,” She mouthed.

They excused themselves to the bathroom, and Ellie discreetly took a photo of him standing rigidly at a table with his hands clasped behind his back. The table clearly wasn’t happy.

In the bathroom, she saw she had a few messages from Tom.

Tom, 05:53pm: Why, thank you 

Tom, 05:54pm: You too

Tom, 06:07pm: I suppose you’re eating now

Tom, 06:07pm: Bon appetit

“Oh my God, Tom thinks you’re pretty,” Poppy breathed next to her.

Ellie sent him the photo.

Tom, 06:23pm: Haha! That’s fucking hilarious

Tom, 06:23pm: I’ll give you £100 if you go over there and tell him table 7 needs bread 

Ellie and Poppy exchanged a confused glance.

“What could that possibly mean?” Poppy wondered aloud.

“Inside joke, I suppose.”

Ellie, 06:24pm: What

Tom, 06:25pm: Just do it

Tom, 06:25pm: Please?

“Ellie, you have to do it.”

“Poppy, I don’t know…”

“What’s there not to know? When Tom Holland tells you to do something, you do it!”

“First of all, can you please stop calling him by his whole name? You’re chatting up his brother, for God’s sake. Second of all, that’s horrible advice.”

Poppy rolled her eyes. “Fine.  _ Tom _ then, a really attractive movie star, asked you to do something. Are you really going to say no?”

Ellie debated.

“If you don’t, I will.” She turned for the door.

“Poppy, wait!” 

She raised an eyebrow.

“At least get a video of me doing it.” Ellie handed her phone over and squared her shoulders.

“After you,” Poppy grinned devilishly holding the door open. 

Harry was at a computer monitor typing an order in presumably. This was her chance. Poppy nodded to her to confirm that she was filming, and Ellie went right up to him.

“Excuse me.”

Harry turned. “Can I help you, miss?”

“Table 7 would like more bread, please.” 

“Right away.” His face changed to one of skepticism, but Ellie was already walking away.

Poppy gave her a thumbs up, and they returned to their seats. Ellie quickly sent the video to Tom.

“Look, girls,” Alice said excitedly. “It’s started snowing!”

Indeed, there were large flakes falling outside of the window. 

“What a lovely view,” Richard said as he adjusted his napkin in his lap.

Their food arrived a moment later, and Ellie used this opportunity to check her phone.

Tom, 06:45pm: You didn’t!

Tom, 06:45pm: Harrison and I are laughing our arses off

Tom, 06:45pm: I’ll tell you the story later. Thank you so much, I needed that laugh

Ellie’s cheeks burned, and Poppy grinned excitedly. 

They dug into their meals. Alice was in the middle of cooing over the mashed parsnips while Richard harrumphed his agreement somewhat skeptical while eyeing his food and no doubt trying to recall the price to see if it matched up.

“Does someone need bread at this table?”

Harry Holland dropped a bread basket onto the table.

“Thanks!” Poppy said, grabbing a piece for herself. “Tom says hi.”

Harry’s face turned beet red, and he hurried away. They could see him checking his phone in the server station.

“Odd bloke,” Richard commented.

“I thought he was sweet,” Alice replied. “We didn’t ask for bread, though. Wonder what that was about?”

Ellie choked on her water. “No idea.”

After dessert, the server came over. “Your bill has been taken care of, sir. Have a good evening.”

Ellie and Poppy exchanged a look. Harry was busy at another table but offered a wave on their way out.

In the car, Richard was befuddled, “Do we look like we can’t afford to eat there?”

“Oh, it was a nice gesture, Dickie. Don’t overthink it.”

Meanwhile, there were a few messages from Tom and a notification on Instagram. 

“Harry’s sent you a message request,” Poppy commented.

“Who’s Harry?” Alice asked.

“He’s a waiter at the restaurant we just ate at,  _ and _ ,” Poppy said for dramatic effect. “Tom Holland’s brother.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still going on about that Holland bloke,” Richard groaned. “This is getting ridiculous!”

“Oh, Dickie. It’s just a bit of fun.”

Ellie felt agitated at her father for brushing off the situation and couldn’t resist, “Well he’s just paid for your dinner, so you might be a little nicer about him.”

“What?” He spluttered.

“It’s true.” Poppy interjected. “Tom dared Ellie to tell Harry that table 7 wanted more bread. Said he’d give her £100 to do so. Guess he went ahead and paid for dinner.”

“Ellie!” Their parents exclaimed.

Then, Richard chuckled. “That is pretty funny. Tell old Tom there that I said, thank you.”

“Yes,” Alice agreed. “Tell him thank you for dinner.”

Tom, 07:10pm: Harry’s asking for your number 

Tom, 07:11pm: Think he’s going to have me head when he gets off. I’m at my parent’s rn

Tom, 07:15pm: I told him no btw. But I suppose he’ll find another way to contact you.

Ellie’s heart fluttered at the fact Tom wouldn’t give up her number to his brother. It was very… protective of him. However she couldn’t help herself and opened Instagram and accepted the request.

Harry, 06:59pm: Did Tom put you up to this???

Ellie, 07:33pm: Yep. Sorry :/

She felt a bit guilty not knowing the full story behind what she had been accomplice to.

Then, she messaged Tom.

Ellie, 07:35pm: Now I need the whole story. It wasn’t rude, was it?

Ellie, 07:35: Everyone says thank you for dinner. You didn’t have to do that btw

Ellie, 07:36pm: And yeah, Harry messaged me on Insta

She pocketed her phone for the rest of the ride to spend time with her family. Unfortunately, she had the early shift the following morning and would need to go to bed soon.

Everyone was too keyed up from the excitement of the evening, and they ended up playing a few rounds of charades in the living room. It was odd how her life seemed to be turning around after her chance meeting with Tom Holland, and even her dad seemed to be treating her more fondly. 

Once in bed, Ellie messaged with Tom until her melatonin kicked in, and she fell asleep with her face on her screen.


	5. Fancy a Walk?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie and Tom hang out...

The alarm went off too early. Ellie groaned but peeled her face from her phone. A quick look in the bathroom mirror confirmed that there was, indeed, the outline of her phone pressed into her cheek.

“Dear God.”

She didn’t have time to check the messages in her inbox from Tom. There were four unread messages, and her fingers itched to see what he said.

Instead, she reflected over the story Tom had told her about the bread. Apparently, the Holland family had come to the restaurant when Harry was still new, and he was so flustered that he forgot to bring the bread and kept forgetting throughout the meal with Tom’s many requests. They ended up asking the manager who came by to ask how their meal was, and Tom requested bread. Upon seeing they didn’t even have a basket on the table, the manager went up to Harry and told him Table 7 needed bread. He still preferred not to have Table 7 to this day, but he had gotten better about his family eating at the restaurant. According to Harry, Tom was banned, however. 

The day went by much to be expected for an airport during the holidays. Luna wasn’t working which meant Ellie was even more bored than usual. She at least had Tom’s messages to look forward to on her break.

Tom, 11:29pm: Are you sleeping

Tom, 01:07am: Good night, sweet dreams

Tom, 10:37am: Good morning 

Tom, 10:37am: What are you up to today?

Ellie, 12:51pm: Work :/ I’m on break rn tho

Ellie, 12:51pm: You?

A video came through just before her break ended. Someone was filming Tom practicing his drive. The muscles under his polo rippled on the backswing.

“Yes, Tom,” The cameraman commented. She assumed it was Dominic Holland. 

Ellie, 01:05pm: Nice! My dad goes there, too

Ellie, 01:06pm: Isn’t it a bit chilly?

Tom, 01:08pm: Really? Maybe I’ll see him around 

Ellie balked at the idea of Tom meeting her father, although he seemed to have chilled out a bit after Tom paid for dinner. He hadn’t made any more comments the evening before when Poppy brought it up again.

Tom, 01:09pm: And it’s never too cold for golf :)

They would have to agree to disagree on that one.

The rest of the day went by fast, thankfully, and Ellie took a nap as soon as she arrived home around 3.

An hour later, she awoke to her phone pinging. She’d turned on the volume before sleeping, so she wouldn’t miss a message. It was a good thing she did, too.

Tom, 04:15pm: Fancy a walk?

_ Oh my God. _

Ellie rushed to Poppy’s room to find the girl in the middle of a Pilates video from YouTube. She was breathing harshly while kicking her leg into the air rapidly.

“What are you doing?”

Poppy rolled her eyes. “Exercising. Would do you a bit of good to join.”

“Tom asked me to go on a walk.”

Her sister stopped mid kick. “And what are you doing here talking to me?”

“Good point.”

“Tell me you’ve responded.”

Her silence deceived her.

“Ellie!”

“I’m sorry. I’m like freaking out right now!”

“Ellie, give me your phone.”

“What? No.”

“Ellie!”

“Fine.”

Poppy quickly typed something. “Here.”

“What’d you say?” Ellie asked desperately, taking the phone back.

Ellie, 04:19pm: Sure

“Out, please,” Poppy commanded, swatting her on the bottom. “Before I recruit you, and you miss your date with Tom Holland.”

“Hey!” Ellie protested. “It’s not a date.”

“Whatever you say.”

Tom, 04:20pm: Great! Meet at the park?

Ellie agreed and quickly got ready. Although her feet ached, she would not miss her ‘date’ with Tom.

She braided her hair and pulled a warm hat over her head as it was evening, and the sun would be going down soon.

Her mom caught her before she could make it out the door, however.

“What’s this I hear about a walk?”

Poppy and her blabbermouth had already told her mother.

“Nothing. Tom invited me for a walk in the park.”

“That doesn’t sound like nothing. He seems like a sweet boy. I’d love to meet him. You should bring him round some time.”

Ellie scoffed at that. “We barely know each other. I doubt he’d want to pop over and meet my parents anytime soon, and it’s not like that, anyway. We’re just friends.”

She hated to say it, but it was true. The fact that she would never know what would have happened if she’d made it to Tom’s bedroom that night at the party haunted her. 

“Whatever you say. Be careful. I know he’s famous, but he’s still a boy you say you hardly know.”

“Tom would never hurt me.” Ellie protested, disgusted by the suggestion. She recalled the day he’d saved a fan from being mauled. That was the most aggressive she’d ever seen Tom, and he’d only raised his voice.

Ellie was anxious on her walk to the park. The cool air hardly bothered her as the butterflies in her stomach were the only thing she could feel.

She’d also worn a coat unlike when she’d run into Harrison the other day. That felt like ages ago.

She spotted him immediately.

Tom was seated on a park bench with his dog, Tessa. He was wearing the same beanie from the party but a different hoodie.

_ Be cool, Ellie, be cool. _

“Hey!” Tom called once he spotted her. He stood up. “Be calm, Tess. Be calm.” He used the adorably high voice from his Instagram stories to talk to her. Tessa remained seated next to the bench, but her tail was wagging furiously. “Good girl.”

“Hi,” Ellie said shyly to Tom then reached down to let Tessa sniff her hand before petting her. “Hello, Tessa”

She crouched down, and Tessa immediately began licking her face. Tom laughed. “I think she likes you.”

“You think so?”

“Definitely.”

They began walking along the path that led through the park. The streetlights were beginning to come on though the sun hadn't quite set. 

“How was work?” Tom inquired.

“Brutal.”

“I’m sorry. What happened?”

“I had the early shift, and it’s been crazy with the holidays.”

“Oh. Sorry if I kept you up last night.” Tom smiled sheepishly.

“It’s fine. I like talking to you.” Ellie blushed when she realized how forward she’d been.

Tom didn’t seem bothered by this; he seemed relieved, actually. 

“So, how was golf?”

Tom’s face lit up with excitement. “Great, actually. I hit a new best.”

“That’s awesome!”

“Thanks,” he beamed.

They walked along in companionable silence stopping every once in a while for Tessa to smell something or squat. At one point, she took a massive shit.

“Sorry,” Tom apologized as he scooped it into a small plastic bag he’d kept in his hoodie pocket.

“Don’t worry about it.” After a moment. “I’m so glad I got to meet Tessa. I love dogs, but we couldn’t get one since Poppy’s allergic, breaks out into red welts all over when she pets them.”

“Oh, no. That sucks!” Tom offered the leash. “Do you want to have a go at walking her?”

Ellie hesitated.

“She’s real docile, doesn’t even bark at cats.” Tessa’s ears perked up at the mention of cats.

“Well, alright.” Ellie took the leash. Tessa didn’t pull at all. 

“Look at you. You’re a natural.”

They continued on with Ellie smiling widely.

“Wanna see me do a flip?” Tom asked out of the blue.

“Um, okay.” Ellie’s heart sped up. Tom Holland was going to do a flip for her! Did this count as showing off? If so, did the golf video fall into the same category?

“Here, you have to hold the poo bag, though. Sorry.”

Ellie took the bag, and Tom strode off the path and onto the grass. He stopped and looked behind himself and prepared. Suddenly, his body lurched up and into a backflip.

“Nice!” Ellie called.

“This one’s cooler. That was just a warm up.” 

He got a running start and cartwheeled into a back handspring then landed in the classic Spider-Man pose.

“Dude, that was so cool!” Ellie hollered

Tom jogged back over. “I gotta work on it a little.”

“What? No you don’t.”

“Felt a little messy.”

Ellie frowned at that but let it go. Afterall, Tom knew more about gymnastics than she did. She hoped, however, that it didn’t have anything to do with low self esteem because she couldn’t stand to think he could feel bad about himself. He was so incredibly talented and amazing.

They had completed two revelations of the park, and now all of the street lights were on.

“Do you mind if I get a pic-”

“Oh, yeah. Sure!” Tom interrupted and immediately put his arm around Ellie’s waste and smiled.

“Um, actually, I was going to ask if I could get one with Tessa.”

Tom’s arm fell to his side, and his face scrunched up in embarrassment. “You’re kidding.”

“No, sorry.”

“Oh my God. That’s so embarrassing!” He covered his face with his hands. “Harrison would never let me hear the end of it if he’d been here just now. Just imagine.”

Ellie giggled and tapped his shoulder. “If you wanted one with me so badly, all you had to do was ask.”

Tom glared playfully but pulled his phone out.

_ Is he actually doing what I think he’s doing? _

He swung his arm around her waist again this time drawing her close enough so that their cheeks were touching. They smiled into the camera.

“I’ll send it to you,” Tom said before Ellie could ask.

She received the photo and opened it. It was good. She didn’t have to worry about looking overexcited because his expression mirrored hers. The lighting wasn’t too bad either. 

Ellie crouched down next to Tessa while Tom took the photo snapping his fingers towards the camera and calling her name in that sweet, high-pitched voice. “Tessa! Look here, darling.”

She wouldn’t admit it, but she would definitely go home and listen to the video of him saying ‘I drink tea, dahling’ on repeat.

_ Is that creepy now? _ She wondered then and decided that it was creepy before as well.

“Thanks,” Ellie said, taking her phone back.

“No problem.” He shoved his hands into his pockets.

“I think I need to get going.” As much as she hated to say it, it was close to 7, and her family was blowing up her phone. She hoped he hadn’t seen any of the messages Poppy had sent asking how they were getting on.

“So soon?”

He actually wanted her to stay.

“I couldn’t convince you to come over for a movie?” He pleaded with those curious brown eyes. They were liquid maple in the street light.

“I’d love to, but I’m pretty beat.” She yawned. “I have another early shift tomorrow, or I would.”

It was physically painful to turn Tom Holland down.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right! Sorry, I’m an idiot. I forgot that you’ve been up since forever.”

Ellie frowned. “You’re not an idiot, Tom.”

“Hang around me long enough, and you’ll see,” He joked, but Ellie didn't laugh with him. “Everyone thinks so.”

“Well I don’t. You’re insanely talented, and the world is lucky to have you.”

“And I’m not everyone,” she added.

Tom’s expression became guarded then, and she wondered if she’d overstepped.

“Well, I’ve got to run.” Ellie handed the leash back over to Tom who accepted it ruefully.

“Okay,” He said quietly.

“Thanks for inviting me. I had loads of fun.” She pet Tessa one more time.

“Thanks for agreeing.”

As if she would have said no, but he seemed genuine.

Then, Tom did something even more unexpected and kissed her cheek. “See you around Ellie.”

Before she could respond, he turned and headed down the sidewalk leaving her standing there with the skin of her cheek tingling.

Ellie went back over the past couple of hours in her head several times, analyzing each piece. Unlike the other times she had seen Tom, she didn’t feel like sharing with Luna or Poppy much to Poppy’s disappointment. She felt like keeping it to herself for once because this time had felt more private, more real.

It was the first time they had been alone together not counting when the first met, and somehow, it had felt more vulnerable than when they’d been dancing flesh to flesh at the party. The memory of Tom’s hands on her hips and his grinding pelvis had her flushing with goosebumps.

She ran through the photos they had taken for the hundredth time. She’d at least let Poppy see those.

Her mom had come over to see them as well.

“He looks like a nice boy,” She had said.

Even their dad was curious and stole a peak. “Hmph.” Was all he had to say. 

When Ellie had told him that Tom loved to golf, his response was a bit more animated.

“Oh?”

Richard was trying hard not to show his interest, but Ellie knew him too well. He was slowly thawing towards Tom. She would make a fan out of him yet.

A streak of insecurity went through her when she thought of the last part of the evening when she had gone overboard with the compliments, but honestly, did he really believe that he was an idiot? The very idea made her mad. 

But Tom couldn’t have been too put off because then he’d kissed her cheek.

A Twitter notification came through from Harrison. It was a DM.

Harrison, 8:45pm: Tom won’t shut up about your walk. It’s downright annoying 

_ What? _

Then, a text message came through from Tom.

Tom, 08:47pm: What did Harrison tell you?

Ellie answered truthfully. She was curious herself.

Ellie, 08:48pm: Just that you won’t shut up about our walk and that he’s annoyed.

There was ten minutes of radio silence, and Ellie imagined Tom chasing Harrison around the kitchen island with cutlery. 

Harrison, 08:58pm: Tell Tom to stop chasing me with a spatula 

So, she hadn’t been far off.

Ellie rolled her eyes.

Ellie, 08:58pm: Why? I’m sure you deserve it

Harrison, 08:59pm: No help 

Ellie, 09:00pm: What can I say? I’m loyal

Tom, 09:02pm: Stop messaging Harrison. His head is big enough already 

She couldn’t resist. More than ever, she needed to find out where she stood.

Ellie, 09:02pm: Why, you jealous? X

She didn’t know why she’d put the x there, but it was too late as she’d already hit send.

Tom, 09:06pm: A little x

Harrison, 09:07pm: Oh, he’s definitely jealous

There was a lag in the conversation again, and Ellie could only imagine what was transpiring a few streets over. She laughed to herself when picturing Tom weilding a spatula at his best friend. 

Just before she gave up officially, two more notifications came through. Tom had followed her on Instagram and Twitter.

Her mind automatically went to the fandom. They were going to shit a brick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think :)


	6. Tech Support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie needs help managing her social media, and Tom is more than willing to offer Harry's services...

All day, Ellie’s phone had been blowing up, and she couldn’t even see anything from her own friends on either of the apps. She decided to turn to Tom for help.

Ellie, 12:47pm: Hey how do I change my settings so that my phone isn’t blowing up like crazy

Tom, 02:31pm: Sorry, guess I should’ve asked permission before following you

Ellie assured him that it was fine and that she was just technologically challenged.

Apparently, he wasn’t any better and sent some complicated instructions that his publicist had given him a long time ago.

Ellie, 03:41pm: Um… I think it’s a bit outdated 

Ellie, 03:42pm: Send help

Incoming Video Call: Tom

Ellie wanted to run to her sister’s room for moral support, but she was frozen in place from the shock and almost missed the call entirely.  _ Not today _ , she decided and pulled the courage from her arse.

She quickly slid her finger across the screen to answer.

Tom’s face appeared.

“Hello!” He waved.

His hair wasn’t in a beanie this time and was artfully gelled into a swoop, effectively the Hollywood movie star that he was.

“Hi,” She replied, a little breathless.

“How are you?” He inquired, smiling. His white teeth gleaming in the light. 

He reminded her of Prince Charming, and she remembered a video from the Infinity War press days when he complained that his hair in the movie made him just that.

“I’m fine, just had work today.” Ellie felt shy all of the sudden. She could hear voices in the background indicating that Tom wasn’t alone.

“Oh, yeah? And how’d that go?”

“Well…”

“Were customers shit?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.” He gave her a rueful smile. She loved how easily he was able to convey his emotions with his face.  _ Well, he is an actor, dahling _ , she reminded herself.

“Eh, it’s alright. It’ll slow down again after the holidays. We just have all these seasonal drinks that my boss wants us to promote, but they take the longest to prepare and hold up the line.”

“God, that must be annoying.”

“Yeah…”

“What’s your least favourite drink to make?”

“Gingerbread latte,” She answered automatically.

He laughed, putting his hand to his chest.  _ God, how adorable… _

Tom was now walking, and the background seemed unfamiliar. He wasn’t at his house.

“So,” He said. Then, angled the camera to someone beside him.

It was Harry Holland.

“This is the tech support of the family. Say hi, Harry.”

“Hi,” Harry said unenthusiastically.

Tom gave him a reproachful look. “Anyway, Harry here is going to walk you through the steps to make your accounts more manageable.”

Then, the phone was passed, and it was just Harry and Ellie.

“Hi,” Ellie said politely. “Sorry about the table 7 thing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tom laughed from beside him.

In the distance, there was a female voice, “Who’s he on the phone with?”

Then, a voice that wasn’t Tom’s or Harry’s piped up, “He’s talking to Ellie.”

She wondered just how many of the Holland’s were actually present.

“Hi, Ellie!”

Tom grabbed the phone for a minute, “That’s my mum.”

“Hi!” Ellie called.

“Hi, darling, how are you?”

“I’m good and-”

Harry grabbed the phone back, “ _ Anyway _ .”

“Don’t be rude,” Their mother chastised.

“Yeah,” Tom echoed. “Don’t be rude.”

Harry ignored him and began his instructions. It took quite a bit of explaining much to Harry’s frustration and Tom’s entertainment.

“Thank you so much,” Ellie told Harry.

“Yeah, yeah,” He said. “It’s not like Tom forced me or anything.”

Then, the phone was back to Tom.

“I’m going to take you upstairs.”

Ellie blushed as several whistles erupted.

Tom’s face burned bright red. “Alright, cut it out.”

“Have fun,” Someone called out.

“Sorry about them,” Tom said, closing the door. He flopped down on the bed. “They don’t get out much.”

Ellie shrugged though on the inside, she was dying. “It’s okay.”

“This my old room, by the way. See?” He flipped the camera around and panned the room.

_ Holy crap _ . Tom’s childhood room.

The room was small with a dresser, wardrobe, and a guitar in the corner.

“Oh, do you play?”

Tom flipped the camera back around. “Yeah, but not well. It’s been  _ ages _ since I’ve practised.”

“I’m sure you’d still be good,” Ellie reassured him.

He gave her a curious look. “Why are you always sticking up for me?”

She was taken aback by this and didn’t know how to answer. “Oh, um. I don’t know… you seem pretty harsh on yourself, and I just wish you could see what I see.”

“And what do you see?”

“An insanely talented person who is his own worst critic.” She blushed. Would she ever stop doing that around him?

“I like that you stick up for me,” Tom said after a moment of silence.

“ _ You do _ ?”

“Course.”

And she could analyze that word forever.

Instead, she asked, “So, what did you get up to today? Tell me about the day in the life of Tom Holland, movie star.”

Tom pursed his lips and tilted his head looking up and to the side, “Well… I spent some time with me mum and brothers as you saw. We came up with some podcast material and talked about the Brothers Trust a bit.”

Ellie smiled at that once again finding it odd at how he casually referenced these things.  _ Well, duh, Ellie. It’s his life, you stalker! _

It was reassuring to see that he didn’t just put on for the camera, however. He really was just as amazing as he seemed.

“I think it’s amazing that you started a charity,” Ellie mused, rolling onto her back so that the phone hovered above her face. 

Tom shrugged, “Helps a bit with the guilt.”

“The guilt?”

He held his breath a moment puffing up his cheeks then let it out. “I can’t help thinking that I don’t deserve it, any of it. Don’t interrupt me, I know what you’re going to say. It’s just, Spider-Man could’ve been anyone, and the opportunity was given to  _ me _ . Knowing how much it’s made a difference in my own life makes me wonder how much of a difference I could make in someone else’s life.”

“That’s beautiful, Tom,” Ellie said softly.

He blushed. “Yeah, well.”

“Would you hold on a moment? I’ll be right back.”

Ellie rushed to the bathroom not wanting to keep Tom waiting long. She was in desperate need of a wee.

After doing her business as fast as hygienically possible, she sprinted back to her room.

Though, there was something very wrong when she returned.

  1. Poppy had her phone.
  2. She was showing Tom all of her marvel paraphernalia which mostly consisted of Spider-Man posters. And the Tom Holland selfie in its picture frame.



“Poppy!” Ellie screamed, tears coming immediately. “What are you  _ doing _ ?”

Poppy who had been laughing stopped when she saw her sister’s more than upset expression. Ellie was mortified. 

“Ellie… I didn’t mean anything by it. It was just a bit of fun.”

Tom was silent on the other end. 

_ God knows what he’ll think of me now… _

Poppy held the phone out, but Ellie didn’t even have the nerve to take it back and face Tom.

He cleared his throat. “Ellie, if you can hear me right now, it’s totally fine. I don’t mind like  _ at all _ ,” He stressed, but she knew the damage had already been done. He would think she was a freak, a super fan, someone not to be trusted.

Poppy held the phone out with pleading eyes. “I’m really sorry, Ellie.”

“I’m going to hang up now,” Tom said. “Ellie, talk to me when you’re ready.”

“Bye, Tom,” Poppy said quietly then looked to her sister who stayed silent.

“Bye,” Tom replied then hung up.

Now that it was just the two, Ellie marched right up and snatched the phone away. “Poppy, how could you?! You’ve ruined everything!”

“Ellie, I’m really sorry…”

“He thinks I’m a total  _ freak _ !”

“Ellie, please…”

Poppy’s eyes were now tearing up.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, swear.”

“Well you still did it, didn’t you? I get something good going in my life for once, and as usual, you have to take it away like you can’t stand to see me happy.”

Poppy was stunned. “Don’t say those things. It isn’t true.”

“You couldn’t stand me being in the spotlight!”

Things were getting more personal as Ellie brought up some of her deepest insecurities. She always felt second best to her younger sister who didn’t suffer from the same anxiety disorder that she did. Poppy was confident and beautiful and smart. She was certainly going to uni and with a full ride while Ellie was destined to serve at the counter of a coffee shop. 

Their parents knew it or too, especially their father who doted on Poppy while always finding flaws in Ellie.

“You’re just jealous!” Poppy had finally become annoyed. 

“Shut up!” Ellie screamed.

“What’s going on up there?” Alice called from the bottom of the stairs.

“Go on, tell her what you did!”

Poppy ran to her room and shut the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!


	7. ily, sis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie chats with Poppy after 'the incident'...

Ellie had her head in her mother’s lap. Alice slowly stroked her hair as tears ran down her face. She had left her phone upstairs and didn’t plan on checking it anytime soon. She needed a break from everything. It had all become too much and wasn’t fun anymore. She felt a pang of empathy for Tom who’s life was constantly put on display.

When Richard heard about the situation, he began to splutter. “This is ridiculous!”

“Richard, she’s upset,”Alice said firmly. “And she’s right. You do tend to stick up for Poppy.”

He remained silent after that, and Alice made tea for everyone. The warmth of the liquid helped calm Ellie’s nerves, and the pair watched television for the rest of the evening. There were mostly Christmas movies on given the time of year. Though the plots were cheesy, she did begin to feel better and even slightly guilty for the way she had treated Poppy. She knew she would have to apologize.

To top it all off, Alice turned to Ellie during the commercial and patted her leg, “You know your sister loves you right? And if I recall correctly, you weren’t exactly levelheaded at fifteen, either.”

Ellie had frowned at that.

“Just some food for thought.” 

A little after nine, she knocked quietly on her sister’s bedroom door.

“What?” Poppy called grumpily through the door.

“It’s me.”

The door swung open revealing a puffy eyed Poppy. “Yes?”

“Can we talk?” Ellie asked in a small voice.

Her sister shrugged but stepped aside to let her pass then closed the door. Ellie stood awkwardly in the middle of the room while Poppy sat on the bed with her legs crossed under her.

“Look Poppy, I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you that way, especially over a boy. I feel like an utter idiot for the way I freaked out. I’ve probably lost Tom now, but oh, well… he was bound to find out what a freak I am anyway.”

Poppy was silent so she continued.

“You’re my sister, and I love you. I know you wouldn’t deliberately try to make me feel bad. It’s just my own insecurities getting in the way, and Dad getting in my head. I mean, I have a whole pile of uni applications that I haven’t started because I don’t even know what I want to do with my life. I don’t want to waste Mum and Dad’s money.”

Her sister smiled gently and patted the place next to her on the bed. Ellie sat down sheepishly, then her sister was pulling her into a hug.

“I’m sorry, too, Ellie. I know how much Tom means to you, and I should’ve let you show him your amazing Marvel decor on your own.”

“Well, he doesn’t mean that much to me…”

Poppy gave her a look.

“Okay, yeah. Apology accepted.”

“Same here.”

They sat in silence for a little while. Animal Planet was on, and two Penguins were cuddling. They both “awed” in unison.

“So, have you talked to Tom since…”

“No,” Ellie admitted. “I left my phone in my room. I never can take rejection well.”

“Ellie, he didn’t seem bothered, not even over the framed selfie with him on your bedside table. He asked about if you had kept the photo somewhere, actually, after I showed him your action figure collection, which he thought was amazing, by the way.”

“What?” 

“Yeah.”

“I’m an idiot.”

Poppy shrugged. “Not an idiot, just too caught up in your head for your own good.”

“Why are you so wise?”

“Someone’s got to have a level head in this family.”

They both laughed at that.

“You’re a lot like Dad, you know.”

Ellie frowned at that. “Please don’t say that.”

“You are, though,” Poppy insisted. “You’re both stubborn and get way too into your hobbies.”

Ellie had to laugh at that. Their father was way too into golf for his own good which rivaled her enthusiasm for anything Marvel related.

“Alright, alright,” Ellie conceded, and the pair watched Animal Planet in content silence until they were both yawning.

Back in her own room, Ellie approached her phone with trepidation. It lay on her pillow, and she picked it up carefully. The screen illuminated with a few notifications. She scrolled down past her email and socials until she got to a text from Tom. 

Tom, 8:49pm: Talk to me when you’re ready.

Ellie sighed. Might as well get it over with. If he rejected her, so be it. It would suck, but she would still have her family and friends to fall back on. She struggled, however, to remember her life before Tom Holland, when he was just a fantasy on her bedroom wall. 

Ellie, 10:22pm: Hey. Still up?

The response was almost immediate as if he’d been waiting for her text.

Tom, 10:23pm: Yeah, are you okay? 

Ellie, 10:25pm: I think so. Thoroughly embarrassed but okay.

Tom, 10:26pm: For the record, I think it’s cool.

Tom, 10:27pm; Can I call you?

Ellie smiled to herself. He was always so polite.

She hit the call button herself and tried to shut up the inner voice that was freaking out that she was calling Tom Holland.  _ He’s just Tom. The guy who you danced with at the party and the guy you went on a walk with. You’ve met his brothers and his dog, and his mum told you hi on video call _ .

“Hey,” he answered.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“How are you?” He asked again.

“Still embarrassed.”

“Don’t be.”

“Okay…”

Ellie had him on speaker while she looked at the picture they had taken together at the park. It was so much better than the one taken at the coffee shop.

“You’ll have to show me your collection in person sometime.”

She was appalled. “Never!”

“I have a collection, too, you know.”

“Yeah, but that’s different because you work for Marvel. You probably even have stuff from the set which is so much cooler.”

“I have every MCU Spider-Man action figure that Marvel has put out, actually.”

“Really?” Ellie asked incredulously. “Even the limited edition ones?”

“Even the limited edition ones.”

“I’m still an obsessed fan.”

“So am I.”

Ellie was stumped. But as long as she was coming clean…

“I have a Tom Holland fan account.”

There was silence. Oh, the dread. He was really going to go running for the hills this time.

“What’s the name?”

That wasn’t the reaction she had anticipated.

“Oh, I don’t know, Tom…”

“Come on, Ellie. It’s just me,” he goaded.

“God this is so embarrassing but tomhollandfan4eva. No caps, no spaces. E, V, A. And don’t you dare laugh.”

“No one’s laughing, Ellie.” His voice was so serious that it bordered on harsh. 

“Okay,” she said softly.

In the morning, her phone was blowing up, again. Tom Holland had followed the fan account, the fans were going absolutely insane. She was able to fix the settings by herself this time, thanks to Harry’s excellent instructions.

Ellie, 09:24am: Really lol

Tom, 09:57am: Really

Ellie lay in bed extra long that morning wondering what her life had become. She had the day off and was using this time to contemplate.

The smell of breakfast floated up from downstairs along with the unmistakable sound of her father’s voice. He had the next few days leading up to Christmas off.

Downstairs, her mum was making pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs. Christmas decorations were strewn about as Richard grumbled on about the amount of boxes he had to move from the attic.

There was a faint dusting of snow outside that would melt again as the day warmed up. She hoped they would get a white Christmas this year.

“Aren’t they a little old for all of this, Alice?” Richard was saying.

“Not at all! And who knows how long they’ll both be at home, anyway. Ellie could move out anytime, and Poppy won’t be far behind her. We’ll have an empty nest, soon.” She sniffed.

“Well, alright.”

“Thanks, dear.” Alice kissed him on the cheek and turned back to breakfast.

“Morning.”

“Ellie! Go wake your sister, and tell her breakfast is almost ready.”

“But I just came downstairs,” Ellie protested.

“Ellie, do as your mother asks, please.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Poppy’s hair fanned over her pillow, and Animal Planet was still on from the evening before. She cut it off.

“Poppy,” she gently shook her sister’s shoulder. “Poppy!”

“What?” She grumbled.

“Mum’s made breakfast, and we're going to put up the tree afterwards.”

She yawned. “I think we’re the only family who waits this long to put the tree up.”

After the house was sufficiently decorated in Christmas, the Perry family reclined on the couch admiring their handiwork. Alice kept the biscuits and tea flowing straight through lunch, and all that there was left to do was nap.

“You do realize we’ll just have to take this down in a few days?” Poppy said.

“That’s what makes it so special,” Ellie replied.

Alice nodded approvingly while Richard squeezed her shoulder. 

All was calm in the house- until Poppy received a message from Paddie Holland saying Tom had been trying to contact Ellie to find out if they wanted to go for a walk with the two brothers and Tessa.

Richard sighed and extravated himself from the couch to go to his den and watch a game of football. Alice winked at the girls and busied herself in the kitchen. 

Ellie was learning that caps were a theme for the eldest Holland and for good reason, she presumed.

“Ellie!” Tom called as they approached. Paddie was a few paces behind and in charge of Tessa for the moment.

“Poppy!” Paddie echoed.

She wasn’t expecting the welcoming embrace but melted into its warmth in the cool afternoon. Nerves coursed through her as she wasn’t quite able to swallow down the fact that she had to face Tom now that he knew of her fanatic tendencies.

“Hi,” Ellie said shyly.

Poppy was busy not petting Tessa with Paddie. “I’ll get a rash all over if I pet her,” she was explaining.

Ellie decided she would get it out of the way as soon as possible.

“I’m sorry for not being up front about my… erm.”

Poor Tom looked clueless, however, which made it all the worse.

“Obsession?” Poppy supplied. “Hello, there. I’m Poppy. We spoke to each other over the phone.”

“Yes, I recognize you. Nice to meet you, officially.” Tom held out his hand which Poppy took with exaggerated professionalism. 

“Pleasure.”

Ellie rolled her eyes.

Luckily, the younger two walked ahead with Tessa so there wouldn’t be any witnesses to the awkward conversation that was bound to occur. 

Ellie was looking anywhere but at Tom, to the power walkers in the distance, to the football players in the grass, even to their younger siblings who she secretly envied for their naturalism.

To her surprise, Tom took a hold of her hand and stopped abruptly.

“What?” Ellie asked looking down at their hands. He still hadn’t let go, and she wasn’t about to protest anytime soon. 

Tom simply waited until she met his eyes which held an sincerity she had never seen before

“It’s okay,” he reassured.

“Oh, my God,” she sighed, wrenching her hand from his grip and continuing down the path. “Can we please not make this a thing?”

He caught up to her. “Well, it clearly is a thing since it makes you so uncomfortable. We were just fine, normal as can be until yesterday.”

Ellie shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. “What do you want me to say, Tom?” She would lay it all out on the table, stopping in place and turning. “I adore you.”

Tom’s expression was guarded once more, and Ellie threw up her hands in frustration and continued walking muttering, “Actors.”

“I heard that,” he called in a sing-song voice that was rather lovely. Ellie briefly wondered if she would ever hear his singing voice. It was a mystery to the fandom who had only ever caught snippets on Instagram Live or Zendaya’s story.

“I meant you to,” she said in the same sing-song tone.

Up ahead, Poppy was shrieking with laughter every time Tessa got close enough to rub against her jeans. It had become a game between them.

“She’s going to get a rash,” Ellie said matter-of-factly.

Tom scrunched his brows together. “You think so? At least her trousers serve as a barrier of some sort.”

“Trust me.”

They walked along in companionable silence just like the last time. Every once in a while, Ellie would steal a glance at Tom to find him already looking at her. He would smile, and she would blush and look away. 

“So,” Ellie said casually. “Your mum seemed to know me by name.”

Before things went downhill on the video call, that had been a very interesting piece of information that she was dying to dissect.

“May have mentioned you a couple of times,” Tom sniffed.

“Oh, really?” Ellie teased.

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Then they met each other’s eyes, and neither could look away. Ellie wanted very badly to close the space between them and kiss his lovely mouth, but she couldn’t. There was no way she was going to jeopardize their friendship or whatever this was. Even thinking in that direction felt dangerous.

“Tom!” Paddie called. “Tessa’s done a massive shit. I need a bag.”

“Hold on. We’re coming,” he yelled then rolled his eyes at Ellie.

“That’s what she said,” came Paddy's muffled reply. Ellie’s eyes widened as Poppy laughed at his joke.

“Poppy!” She scolded.

“Hurry up, you two. We haven’t got all day.”

Tom frowned at his little brother and pulled out a plastic sack with a bit more temper than necessary. 

“Sorry,” Paddy mumbled and scooped the poo up.

Poppy scrunched her nose up at the foul smell and scratched her face.

“Uh-oh,” Ellie said when she saw the small welts appearing along her sister’s cheeks and neck.

“Oh, man!” Tom said leaning closer to get a better look.

“What is it?” Poppy asked, eyes darting around and touching her face self consciously then scratching again. “Oh, I’ve got welts, don’t I?”

“I’m so sorry,” Tom apologized. “I should’ve remembered that your sister’s allergic.”

Ellie shrugged it off. “Not your fault. I’ve got to get her home, though.”

“So soon?” He looked like a sad puppy. It wasn’t fair that actors could use their facial expressions so advantageously.

“I can walk her home,” Paddy piped up. “That way you two can…” He waggled his brows.

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” Tom said, but his brother simply continued even moving his shoulder up and down flirtatiously, much to Poppy’s amusement. 

“Thin ice,” Tom warned.

“I suppose it’s all right,” Ellie said slowly wondering how much her parents would kill her. It was about a 50/50 so a win in her book. Plus, she would get more time with Tom which wasn’t exactly the most mature line of thinking, but who could blame her?

“Leave Tessa,” Tom instructed. “And no funny business. Straight there and straight back.”

“No fun,” Paddy pouted.

“Go on.”

Ellie gave Poppy the same warning but visually to which Poppy widened her eyes and crossed her arms in annoyance. The two trotted off together already looking like they were up to no good.

“Teenagers,” Tom huffed.

“You say that like you and I weren’t just one of them,” Ellie teased.

“Yeah, but we were different,” he insisted.

“Whatever you say.” After a minute, “Do you think they’ll go straight home?”

“Yeah, Paddy’s a good kid. He likes to show out a bit, but he always listens to me.” Tom looked proud at this.

“How is it having all brothers?” Ellie wondered aloud.

“Well… I wouldn’t know since I don’t have a sister, but it’s been awesome so far.”

“Wait, are you one of those families that kept trying for a girl, but it never happened?” She wanted to slap herself in the face.

Luckily, Tom wasn’t offended. He took it good-naturedly. “That’s actually a running joke in our family. Dad’s a comedian, by the way. Or… did you know that already?”

Ellie blushed. 

He laughed. “At least we can skip the introductions.”

“God, I’m such a stalker,” Ellie sighed. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud and looked to Tom for his reaction.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “But a cute one.”

Did Tom Holland just call her cute?  _ No. Just Tom, Ellie, just Tom. _

But was he really just Tom? Was the movie star all that different from the real Tom? It made her dizzy trying to separate the two in her mind.

Would it really be so hard to accept that Tom was everything just at different times?

Maybe that was the key.

“Are you really not going to say anything to that?” 

Ellie was snapped out of her thoughts by a slightly affronted Tom. Well, this one was new, too.

“I’m sorry. I’m lost in my thoughts…” She trailed off as his expression soured even further. “What’s wrong?”

“Really don’t mind that you’re a fan. So, please stop treating yourself like some sort of psychopath. You’re not, Ellie. Without fans like you, I wouldn’t have gotten nearly this far.”

Tom’s expression implored her to see things his way, but she still felt some reservations.

“Listen, Tom. I’ve known you for years, and you’ve known me for a few days. We only just met a month ago and didn’t speak between then and now. 

“So, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around how someone like you, who I’ve  _ idolized, _ wants to spend time around someone like me who’s got nothing going for her but a possible management position at a coffee shop.”

“Management? That’s excellent!”

“Why are you so infuriatingly positive?! Is there anything wrong with you?! Like at all?”

Tom smiled softly. 

Ellie groaned in frustration.

“Why does anything have to be wrong?”

“I don’t trust a man without a dark side.”

Tom’s lips quirked to the side. “Isn’t that a line from—?”

“Age of Ultron,” Ellie admitted. “Yeah.”

“God, I love how obsessed you are. You should definitely come over for a movie. Harrison refuses to watch anything Avenger related with me anymore since I quote everything.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Ellie sighed.

“ _ We’re _ nerds,” he corrected.

The air around them sparkled conspiratorially as his words grouped them together.


	8. The Limit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie goes to Tom's to hangout...

Tom, 10:37am: Movie at mine tonight?

Ellie, 10:49am: I’m so sorry. I have the late shift

Tom, 10:51am: What about after?

Ellie, 11:03am: Won’t it be kind of late?

Tom, 11:08am: What time are you off?

Ellie, 11:09am: 11

Tom, 11:11am: I can pick you up 

Ellie, 11:14am: Ok :)

Ellie was busy wiping off the counters while Luke was washing coffee pots in the back. Her stomach tightened with nerves each time she glanced at the clock. It was only five minutes after 11, and there was nothing left to do but put the machines back together for the morning shift. It was perhaps a record time for the pair.

Luke was one of the newer staff members, so he didn’t close as fast as Ellie and Luna. On her way back from the kitchen, she nearly dropped the dishes she was holding as none other than Tom Holland was leaning against the counter.

The brim of his hat cast shadows along his face, but Ellie was used to this by now and recognized him easily.

“Um, yes,” He said, stroking his chin. “I’ll have the gingerbread latte, hold the whipped cream and cherry.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “It’s not a milkshake, you know.”

Tom gave up the act and chuckled. “What can I say? I drink tea, darling.”

Except, of course, he said it like ‘dahling’ which had Ellie’s insides doing jumping jacks. Redness colored the tips of her ears at this, but, thankfully, her hair hid this development.

“How are you, anyway?” He inquired leaning across the counter on his forearms.

Ellie turned away more so to stop the blushing than place the dishes in their proper places.

“Tired,” she responded, automatically and cringed. “But looking forward to a movie.”

“You hungry?”

“A bit.” In fact, Elli was starving, but she didn’t want to pig out in front of the man.

“Great,” Tom responded. “How about a pizza? I’m half-starved.”

The car ride was comfortably silent as Ellie sipped the latte she had made for this moment specifically. There was no way she was going to fall asleep on Tom Holland’s couch and miss the chance of being less than a foot away from him for a guaranteed two hours. She would, of course, be picking the longest Marvel film to date to prolong their time together.

Tom’s house was charming when not filled to the brim with gyrating bodies. It was well decorated with all of the furniture in its proper place. No one would even know a rager had taken place here less than a week ago.

“I love your house,” Ellie mused. She couldn’t help it.

Tom smiled magnificently. “You like it? Mum picked it out.”

“Well, she has excellent taste, then.” Ellied did in fact already know this fact as she was a STALKER.

“I’ll tell her you said that,” he beamed.

They were met almost immediately with a Harrison. “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Back for more, are we?” The blonde teased, eyes gleaming. His gaze altered between Ellie and Tom before finally landing on Ellie again. She couldn’t help her blush at this attention which was exceedingly embarrassing, especially in front of Tom. She didn’t want to be  _ that _ girl. 

“Oh, shut up,” Tom bantered back while making his way to the fridge. “Ellie, would you like anything to drink, darling?”

Oh, but he called her  _ dahling _ .

“I’ll take a beer, thanks,” Harrison interjected. 

Tom rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t talking to  _ you _ . Ellie?”

His eyes were pleading, and his mouth was pinched in annoyance toward his best friend which was exceptionally cute. She stifled a giggle.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having, thanks.”

“A beer it is, then,” Harrison drawled from the sofa. He had sat down with both arms draped along the back and his feet on the table. 

Tom ignored his friend and popped the lid off two beers. They clinked bottles and drank, Tom’s eyes never leaving hers. The effect of the alcohol was almost immediate making her jumping jack insides calm down. There was also a pair of liquid brown eyes staring back at her. If she was reading everything properly, she realized that kissing Tom was not off the table for the evening.

“So, what movie is it, then?” Came Harrison’s voice from the sofa.

“Whatever Ellie wants to watch. Come on,” Tom said, and then he grabbed her hand and led her towards the spiraling stairs.

Her breath caught in her throat as she realized they were going to his bedroom. 

“Enjoy,” Harrison called after them.

Tom gave his friend a murderous glare but smiled apologetically at Ellie.

He pushed open the door at the end of the hallway revealing the master suite. There was a massive TV on the wall as well a pretty sizable bed on the other side.

“This doesn’t make you uncomfortable, does it?” Tom asked nervously. “I think Harrison planned to pester the absolute shit out of me the whole time.”

Ellie shook her head. “Never.”

It was quite the opposite, in fact, and the fact that he was attentive to her feelings made her want to swoon. But she didn’t because that would be extremely uncool, of course.

He smiled and pulled out his phone. “What pizza shall it be then?”

They had settled into the mound of pillows on Tom’s bed, pizza and beer between them. Everything was platonic aside from the fact that she was in someone’s bed. Every nerve in her right side seemed to be alight with his presence. She couldn’t even be disappointed when he didn’t hold her hand during Guardians of the Galalxy.

Ellie was sure she would embarrass herself if he so much as leaned over to get the remote from the table on her side- not that Tom would ever do that; he was way too polite.

Which meant she could only dream that he would reach across her so that she could feel the brush of his arm over her chest. Her face was in flames at the more dishonorable thought.

Ellie peeped you her right to find that Tom was already looking at her.

He smiled, then when their eyes were on the screen, asked: “Are you tired?”

His voice came out deeper than usual, husky. 

Her breath caught in her throat, so that when she answered, it came out quiet. “Maybe a bit.”

“I can drive you home if you would like?”

_ No, sir. _

“No, I’m okay.”

Ellie’s mind began to race a little wondering if Tom wanted to cut their time short since she was being boring.

“I’m sorry if I’m boring,” she said, suddenly.

Tom looked at her with three heads. “Not at all. I understand that you’re tired. I feel a bit guilty, actually, for not doing this another time.”

But why did he have to be such a cinnamon roll?

“But then you would be stuck with Harrison who refuses to watch anymore Marvel movies,” Ellie joked.

His mouth quirked up a that.

Ellie stifled a yawn and settled further into the pillows convincing herself that she was just getting comfortable. Tom did the same, and they continued watching the movie as if neither had spoken.

The last thing she remembered were stars flying past the birdlike wings of a spaceship.

There was a blue light shining that Ellie just couldn’t seem to block out no matter how she put the pillow over her head. She tossed and turned, body heavy with the beer she had drank. When did she drink a beer?

A faint breath blew across her face. 

Ellie snapped to awareness to find a sleeping Tom next to her.

_ Oh, dear Jesus. _

What a sight he was, almost angelic. She felt the urge to brush that one resistant curl from his forehead. 

That’s when she fully realized that she was in a boy’s bed in the middle of the night, and the blue light was from the TV screen. The Guardians was over a while ago.

That meant that it was way late, and her parents (Dad) would be  _ pissed _ .

“Oh, shit!” She hissed sitting up.

Tom’s arm slid off her body and landed on the mattress with a thump, then he stirred. 

“Ellie,” he murmured, smiling sleepily. “I must have dozed off. What time is it?”

“That’s a good question.” She fumbled for her phone and found it under the pillow. It was just after four.

“Oh, God!” Ellie jumped up.

“What? What is it?” Tom was alarmed now and sat up as well. He checked his own phone while Ellie put her shoes on twice as she had gotten the feet wrong at first. “Oh, shit.”

She was already out the door and heading for the stairs.

“Ellie, wait!” Tom yelled from the bedroom. “Let me drive you.”

She stumbled on the top step when his hand caught her shoulder. 

Ellie turned wild, panicked eyes on calm, brown ones.

“Hey, it’s alright. Calm down. It’s already way late. Rushing isn’t going to help anything. I’m sorry if I got you in trouble,” he added.

A door opened behind Tom and a blinking, shirtless Harrison appeared running his hand through blonde curls. Ellie wasn’t blind, okay, so she blushed when her eyes caught rippling stomach muscles and a faint trail of hair leading to…

“What’s going on?” Harrison asked, thankfully, breaking Ellie’s stare.

She looked to Tom who was frowning at his best friend. Oh, God. Had he seen her ogling the other?

“I’m just driving Ellie home.” Tom’s voice has taken on a tone she hadn’t heard before. There was an icy edge to it.

The sleep deprivation was catching up to her, and she felt like an utter fool for being insensitive to Tom’s feelings.

Harrison disappeared into his room.

Tom smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and his nostrils were flared. Was it jealousy then?

But, then, the look was gone, replaced with the Tom she knew and adored.

“Let’s get you home,” he said softly and led her down the staircase.

In the car, he offered reassuring smiles on the short drive home.

The front porch light was on as was the TV. Shame went through her at the thought of keeping her parents up.

Tom unbuckled his seatbelt and made a move to get out of the car.

“No way. You’re not meeting my parents like this,” she objected.

Tom pouted. “I’m an actor darling, I’ll win ‘em over.”

Ellie wanted to continue to object, but he said it like dahling, and before she knew it, Tom Holland was leading the way up to her own front door.

Nervously, she took out her keys and shakily unlocked the door.

A shadow moved behind the glass, and they took a deep breath.

But it was just Poppy.

“Come on!” She whispered, gesturing for Ellie to move quickly and silently. “Dad’s asleep in his chair.”

Tom kissed Ellie on the cheek and squeezed her hand which Poppy waggled her eyebrows at. 

“Hi, Tom,” Poppy said casually.

There was a faint rosy blush to his cheeks. The sisters watched as he disappeared down the walk, shoulders hunched and hands in pockets against the chill.

“Come on, you,” Poppy growled, pulling her into the house.

They crept past their sleeping father and up the stairs going straight to Ellie’s room where they collapsed on her bed in relief.

“Just admit it,” Poppy said, proudly if not haughtily. “You would be toast right now if it weren’t for me.”

“I would be a lot of things right now if it weren’t for you,” Ellie said, peeking to see her sister’s reaction.

Poppy responded by flipping her off and turning on Animal Planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments. I love to get feedback, just don't be too mean lol


	9. Christmas

The sounds of lions mating woke Ellie up which wasn’t that unusual. She rolled over to turn the TV off and adjust her pillow which Poppy had taken over. 

Her phone lighting up was a distraction from falling back to sleep however. There was a message from Tom as well as a photo.

Tom: Think we’ll get a white Christmas 

That’s right, it was Christmas Eve Eve. A photo of about 15 centimetres of snow in Tom’s backyard loaded, but that couldn’t be right because that meant there was 15 centimetres of snow in her own yard. 

Ellie climbed over her sister, who grunted in protest, and stumbled to the window flicking the blinds open mercilessly.

This proved to be a mistake as blinding white light flooded the room temporarily blinding her.

“What the fuck are you doing, Ellie?” Poppy moaned.

She ignored her sister, and as her eyes adjusted, she realized that there were dark gray clouds in the sky. The snow was still coming down. At this rate, they would be snowed in.

“Ellie, seriously.”

“Oh, shut it.”

Ellie exited the room and went down the stairs to find her dad exactly where she thought he would be, in front of the TV, zoned into the news. There was video footage of cars swerving on the A5 and throughout London itself.

“Dear God.”

Her father barely turned his head as she sunk into the cushion next to him. “All of this has come down in the past couple of hours.”

The night before seemed to have been completely forgotten as the pair watched the segment.

“Oh, Ellie! You’re up,” Alice said coming through from the kitchen.

They both shushed her until they saw she had bacon sandwiches.

About an hour later, Poppy stumbled down the stairs.

“What’s going on?”

They made room for her on the sofa, and the whole family leaned forward as the announcer stated the new measurement of snow.

“Bloody hell, it’s at least halfway up my car. Where do these people learn how to measure?”

“But, Dickie, the wind pushes a lot of that snow against the car,” Alice interjected. “Remember last year when you called into work because the snow had frozen around your car?”

“Don’t remind me.”

Their father had made a show about how no one had bothered to shovel the driveway during the winter storm. He was particularly upset to realize that he had raised two girls who didn’t know how to shovel snow. It became a family sporting event.

“Global warming, my arse.”

They passed the holiday snowed in at home. It was uneventful much to Richard’s delight who dreaded hosting Christmas dinner for his in-laws. The electricity went out the night of the 25th making the 26th a rather cold, depressing affair. They spent the day shoveling snow from the driveway and piling wood into the fireplace in the hearth room. For food, they had leftover, cold Christmas dinner which they had an ample supply of due to the lack of guests the previous day. Alice didn’t know how to cook a small holiday dinner. It just wasn’t in her vocabulary.

Ellie would sneak upstairs to get some peace and quiet despite the cold. She opted to put a hat and mittens on versus playing another round of Apples to Apples with her family. They had not yet graduated to Cards Against Humanity and probably never would.

Aside from a holiday greeting, Tom was oddly silent even on Instagram which Ellie kept checking to see if he had put up a story. None of the boys had. Eventually, her phone’s battery was completely drained which meant it was back to the kitchen table, Monopoly this time. Richard insisted on being the banker.

The electricity came back right before they went to bed.

“That’ll be a fun electric bill,” Richard grumbled and set the thermostat to a chilly low to counteract the amount of energy it would take to heat the whole house once more.

The roads didn’t open back up until the 27th, and everyone returned to work on the 28th.

Richard dropped Ellie off early in the morning. The coffee shop had completely shut down from the lack of customers due to the snowstorm. The day was hell as all the flights that had been delayed over three days came in.

“What a bloody mess,” Luna groaned. “You’d think they would be more interested in finding a taxi than standing in line for coffee.”

Their manager had glared at that.

By the end of it, Ellie was thoroughly depressed, and her ankles were swollen. Because she had missed so many days of work, she opted to do a bit of overtime to save her bank account. There hadn’t been a message from Tom since Christmas Day. She read over it once more in the back of Luna’s dad’s car.

Tom: Happy Christmas! I hope you enjoy the holiday with family and friends. -Tom

It was a standard message he had probably sent to everyone in his contacts list.

Luna didn’t have much to say about the situation. “Maybe he was just spending time with his family?” She offered with a pitying smile.

“Yeah. Right. ‘Course.” Ellie mumbled and waved to her friend before going inside.

What she saw or more like who was sitting in the parlor with her parents made her forget all about her swollen ankles.

None other than Paddie and Dominic Holland sat on the sofa with Tessa on the floor between them. She immediately got up to greet Ellie and pushed her nose into Ellie’s palm.

“Hey, girl!”

“Hello, there,” Dominic said, standing up and reaching out his hand. “I’m Tom’s dad. You can call me Dom.”

“It’s short for Dominic,” Paddie piped up, and the adults chuckled.

Richard was sitting in the recliner, legs crossed and looking entirely too pleased. “He’s that comedian.”

Poppy rolled her eyes to Ellie who stifled a giggle. She was keeping her distance from Tessa to avoid breaking out in hives. Alice was hovering in the background offering more tea and biscuits every once in a while.

Their guests would decline, and Tessa would try to steal a biscuit from the platter causing everyone to break out into laughter.

Ellie didn’t know if she had somehow stumbled into the twilight zone.

When the pair finally got up to leave, it was well after six. The fathers shook hands.

“We’ll see you on New Year’s Eve, then?” Dom was saying.

Ellie’s ears perked up, and Poppy looked absolutely mischievous as she wiggled her eyebrows like a know it all.

“Absolutely,” Alice replied. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Bye, Poppy,” Paddie called as he followed his father and Tessa out the door, then he stopped. “Oh, yeah. Tom says hi.”

A grin that could be described as none other than devilish appeared on his face, and they disappeared down the sidewalk.

The whole thing was positively chaotic. 

Ellie, still in her work clothes, rounded on her family. “What-?”

“Dom came to collect Paddie since he was already on a walk with Tess,” Poppy explained. “Dad and Dom hit it off while Mum hovered excessively, now we’re going to their New Year’s Eve party. At their house.”

The youngest couldn’t contain her excitement by the end and let out a shriek. 

“I was not hovering,” Alice denied.

No one said anything, and she busied herself by attacking the sofa with the lint roller.

Upstairs, Ellie decided she was done with the silence from Tom. 

Ellie: So apparently we’re coming over for New Year’s 

He responded almost immediately.

Tom: Haha I heard

Tom: So, how’ve you been?

Ellie sucked in her cheeks at that; she still didn’t know what to make of Tom’s silence over the holiday.

Ellie: Cold, you?

Tom: About the same. We went out to visit my grandparents, got snowed in. They have a generator, thankfully. But no signal unfortunately.

Ah, so that explained it, but still, he could’ve at least said that before now. She had to check herself, though. She was starting to sound a little obsessed.

“What’s new?” She said aloud to herself.

Ellie: Oh no! At least you were warm. Hope you enjoyed your holiday nonetheless 

Tom: Can I ask you a question

She didn’t know what to think about that. What could Tom possibly ask? Her heartbeat was so strong, she could feel the pulse in her ears.

Ellie: Sure

The three dots appeared and disappeared as if Tom was figuring out how to word it. She tapped her nails against her thigh as she waited.

Tom: Do you celebrate Christmas?

What was he talking about?

Ellie: Yeah, course. Why?

Tom: Well, this sounds stupid but you didn’t respond to my text so I just thought that maybe you don’t celebrate… idk

_ Oh, dear God _ .

Ellie scrolled back up. She in fact had left Tom hanging for three days. 

Ellie: Oh I’m so sorry! I thought I responded but I didn’t!

She had been so caught up in the message itself that she hadn’t even responded. 

Tom: Oh

Tom: I thought you were ignoring me

Ellie: And I thought you were ignoring me

There was an incoming FaceTime call from Tom.

Her breath hitched when she accepted, and Tom’s face appeared on the screen. His curly brown waves fell across his forehead. He was adorable.

“Hi,” Ellie said. Then she remembered she had just gotten out of the shower. In the little pane showing her face, she looked positively grisly.

“Hey!” He said excitedly. “Crazy about those messages, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, crazy.”

He didn’t comment on her appearance, but Ellie knew he was too nice to say anything, anyway.

Nonetheless, she sat the phone on her vanity, so she could comb through her wet hair.

“Just got out of the shower?”

“Yeah, I worked today.”

“How were the customers?” Tom asked after a moment. He sounded… distracted. She turned from her mirror to find Tom’s eyebrows pulled together in concentration. His eyes were downcast, and Ellie then saw herself.

_ Bloody hell! _

She was in an oversized shirt that barely covered her bum without a bra. Tom’s cheeks were pink.

Wait a minute, had he been staring?

Ellie felt simultaneously flattered and embarrassed at the same time. She certainly didn’t want him thinking she was attention seeking or anything.

As nonchalantly as possible, she combed through her hair and got underneath her covers all while babbling about her day.

After she was settled, Ellie refocused her attention back on Tom.

“So, what have you been up to?”

“Well,” he said, eyes shifting. “Been sulking a bit, to be honest. I sort of thought that Harrison had really got on your nerves or something.”

_ Or something. _

So that thing in the hallway was definitely a thing after all.

“No, no,” Ellie said quickly. “Though I would like a do-over preferably when I’m not tired out of my mind and Harrison isn’t around.”

Tom laughed at that. “He can be a real pain sometimes.”

“Don’t worry,” Ellie insisted with a smile that she hoped was convincing. 

“Let’s just forget the whole thing,” Tom suggested.

What a relief. “Yes, absolutely.”

They grinned at each other for a few seconds before Tom inquired after her Christmas, and they spent the rest of the evening chatting until Ellie’s eyes drooped.


	10. Dinner Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie and Tom have dinner together.... (This is where things really get going)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There be smut ahead ;)

In the morning, there was a text from Tom.

Tom: Good morning 

She smiled and eagerly replied.

Tom: Sooo I have a question

Ellie: Okay, I have answers 

She smiled to herself at her ridiculous answer.

Tom: Anyway. 

Tom: Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?

What. Was he asking her out on like a  _ date _ date?

She had to work that evening, but hell would freeze over before she told Tom Holland that.

Ellie: Yes, abso-

She backspaced.

Ellie: Yeah, that sounds great

Ellie: Just to be clear, are we going out to a restaurant or?

The wait was nail biting.

Tom: Actually, Sam offered to come over and play chef. He’s in school for that. Is that okay?

Tom: I mean, we could go visit Harry and take the mick out of him too…

Ellie giggled.

Ellie: Either is fine with me. Will Harrison be harassing us tonight?

Tom: Haha. No, I’ve kicked him out. He’s officially uninvited.

She wondered just how much of that was a joke. The evening she was at his house, Tom seemed pretty upset with him.

Ellie: Yours, then

Tom: Great, I'll see you then.

She frowned. 

Ellie: What time?

Tom: Oh, yeah! Sorry! 6 good for you?

Ellie: Perfect

She then called in sick and spent the day giving herself a much needed spa session which consisted of plucking her brows, shaving her legs, having Poppy paint her right fingernails, and a glass of wine for the nerves. 

Ellie lit a lavender candle while she did her makeup and her mum did her hair. She was going to take an Uber as she refused to have Tom meet her dad just yet. She was just going “out” to whom it concerned.

Alice knew better, of course, and gave her a wink on her way out the door.

When Ellie arrived, Tom seemed confused.

“Who dropped you off?” He asked, popping his head out the door and looking around like meerkat.

“Well hello to you, too,” She replied as he moved to let her in.

They hovered in the hallway, Tom went in for a hug, awkwardly wrapping an arm around Ellie, and when he went to kiss her cheek, she accidentally turned her head so that he kissed the corner of her mouth.

Tom went completely still. 

“Sorry!” Ellie squeaked.

“No, no,” Tom waved his hand as he stepped away. He rubbed his neck then pointed down the hall. “Er, this way.”

He was nervous, she realized, possibly more nervous than she was. 

Ellie pressed her lips together as a grin threatened to crack her face.

She noticed Tom had a nice pink and white striped button down and jeans. The view from behind was excellent. 

In the kitchen, a boy dressed in a chef hat and jacket was busy chopping and stirring.

“Good evening,” he said, curtly, before going back to work.

“Oh, wow,” Ellie breathed.

It was the sweetest thing a date had ever done before.

“He’s taking this seriously,” Tom murmured. “I’m paying him by the hour. He’s not cheap, either.”

Ellie giggled.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Yes, please.”

“Wine?”

“That would be lovely.”

“White or red?”

She pondered this before nodding to Sam. “Well, what does the chef suggest?”

Sam looked up for a moment. “Red.”

Then he was back to his task.

“Thanks, Sam,” Ellie called.

He didn’t say anything, but she didn’t miss the way his ears turned pink.

There was a bang on the glass door leading to the garden as Tom uncorked the wine.

“Tessa!” Ella cried. “Can I let her in?”

“Absolutely not,” Sam said in a dignified manner.

Tom cupped a hand to his mouth and stage-whispered. “He gets really into his role.”

“Runs in the family, I suppose,” Ellie laughed and let the excited, gray dog inside.

Dinner was an expensive looking ordeal complete with courses that Ellie couldn’t comprehend the name of.

Sam would present it in the dining room with a flourish and the name before disappearing.

“So,” Tom said as he cut into a lovely slice of beef. “I should probably tell you that I’ll be away on and off after New Year’s.”

“Oh,” Ellie said. There was disappointment, for sure, but another part of her was more interested in the fact Tom was telling her this over dinner. It clearly wasn’t a goodbye. “What will you be doing?”

He opened his mouth to speak but then closed and waved his hand. “Various things, mostly press,”

“You can’t tell me, can you?”

He shook his head.

“It’s fine. I understand,” Ellie smiled. “When do you leave?”

“The second.”

She swallowed carefully and took a sip of water. “Of January?”

He nodded, guiltily. “Yeah, sorry. I should have told you sooner.”

_ Well, yes, to be quite frank _ , is what she wanted to say.

Tom set down his fork and knife. “Ellie, I need to ask you something?”

Her mind did somersaults as she wiped her mouth with a fancy cloth napkin. Where did he even get this stuff? Maybe it was a prop from a movie.  _ Focus, focus. Oh, goodness… _

“Do you like me, Ellie?” His lips barely moved as he asked. 

Just then, Sam came in to collect their dishes.

“Oh, not finished?” His cheeks turned a bit red at his blunder.

“Not quite,” Ellie answered. “It’s excellent, though. Well done.”

He beamed and left, chef hat bobbing on the way.

She turned her attention back to the Holland in front of her. Tom was completely still again as he waited patiently.

“Yes, I do.”

Tom adjusted his collar as his one fancy eyebrow quivered. “Do you… I don’t know how to word this without sounding like a complete prat.”

Elle inclined her head in anticipation. 

“Do you want me to like, make time to come visit you, and you like, I don’t know. Come visit me sometimes, maybe?”

The question was certainly a convoluted way of asking if she wanted to be his girlfriend. It was adorable.

He mistook her silence. “That was not my line.”

Ellie giggled in amusement. “Did you rehearse for this?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, of course, I want you to visit me, and I’ll sometimes visit you,” She gave him a small smile and shakily reached for his hand.

He stared at her trembling fingers wrapping through his own. “You’re nervous?”

Tom looked in disbelief.

“Of course,” Ellie teased. “I’m having dinner with a movie star. I’m freaking sweating with nerves.”

His eyebrows scrunched up.

It may have been too much to say, she had to admit.

“I’m a bit sweaty, too,” he replied then winked.

Oh, he knew what he did to her.

They got back to dinner, and the atmosphere was lighter yet heavier with something more akin to excitement.

Dessert was créeme brûlée that Sam torched right before their eyes. Ellie clapped for him, and Tom joined.

“I’ll be out of your hair now,” Sam excused himself and went to wash the dishes. They heard the front door click shut quietly, and it was something new to be alone, truly alone together for the first time.

The tension was palpable.

“Would you like to watch a movie?” Tom suggested, eyes shifting slightly as he said it.

Ellie blushed as she contemplated all the things they could get up to during a movie.

“Yeah.”

They went to the couch, and this time, there was no Harrison around to interrupt.

Tom fiddled with the remote, popping the batteries out a few times before it worked. “Not good with the technology.”

The opening credits for  _ Black Panther _ began, and Tom shifted slightly closer on the couch. Not ten minutes went by, and Tom shifted even closer and put an arm across the back behind Ellie.

She had barely been invested in the movie as she was keeping track of each of his movements in her peripheral vision.

When she stole a glance at Tom, she found that he was already looking at her. Ellie took that as an invitation enough to cuddle into his side. They got more into the movie after that.

Every once in a while, Tom would mention a minor but interesting detail about an actor. 

Towards the end, Ellie became increasingly aware of Tom’s other hand that rested on her thigh. It had moved there somewhere around the halfway point.

He was adorably awkward and very much knew that Ellie would let him have his way with her if he really wanted, she was sure of it. And, well, she had shaved and all that, so it’s not like she was naive as to what they could get up to.

Tessa chose that moment to paw at the door expectantly.

“She needs to go out,” Tom murmured and extracted himself.

Ellie was not oblivious to the fact that he kept his hands in front of his crotch on the way to the glass door. So, the effect was mutual. She shivered.

When Tom returned, it was harder to get back into the movie. He didn’t immediately sidle up to her which was a disappointment for Ellie. His eyes were glazed over confirming the fact he wasn’t into the movie either.

Very boldly, she moved slowly over to where he sat and straddled his lap.

His eyes were very big and mouth parted.

“Ellie…” he barely whispered.

“Is this okay?” She murmured, huskily. The anticipation had built up throughout the movie. 

She dropped her head forward, hair cascading around them like a curtain and pressed their lips together. 

Tom was slow to respond at first, as if his brain wasn’t fully connected to his body, but when he did, it was enthusiastic.

Between frantic kisses, his hands moved over her shoulders and down to her waste while he whispered between kisses, “Been… wanting to do… this for… forever.”

“Me, too!” And really, he didn’t know the half of it.

He was hard beneath her, and Ellie rolled her hips. If he was leaving January 2, they didn’t have hardly any time at all. She wasn’t going to waste it.

Tom groaned and held her hips down over him. She realized it was to stop her movements.

“Mmm, why are you stopping?” She said as she kissed his neck.

He lay his head back on the couch to allow her better access. 

“You’re driving me crazy,” he hinted, a wild look in his eye before moaning again.

None of her previous boyfriends had ever been so sensitive before. Then again, they had a lot of experience.

“Oh, are you a virgin?” The question popped out before she could stop it.

“I- er-No!” He stammered, eyes shifting. “Okay, yes.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like an accusation,” Ellie said quickly. “It’s alright, and we don’t have to do anything.”

Tom put a hand to her mouth, and she couldn’t help the moan that escaped.

Okay,  _ hot _ .

His eyes searched hers. “No, I want to. I really, really want to. I’m just afraid I’m going to like, you know.”

Tom’s face was on fire now, and Ellie felt a little bad for him.

This new piece of information was taking over her brain. Out of all the places in the world, Tom hadn’t found a girl he wanted to have sex with?

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Let’s take it slow. And-”

Tom frowned.

“Don’t get mad at me, but I don’t think we should have sex tonight.”

“Everyone always says that.”

Ellie frowned this time, not particularly thrilled to hear about others.

“Sorry,” Tom said when he realized what had slipped out.

Ellie smiled, lopsidedly. “Let’s just… make out for a little and see where it goes.”

He nodded eagerly and brushed her hair out of her face and gently brought her mouth to his.

Things quickly became heated again, especially as Tom’s fingers found their way under her shirt and into her bra. 

Ellie gasped when he brushed her hardened nipple, and she ground her hips down again. Tom’s shirt was now unbuttoned revealing his muscular chest and abdomen. He shivered when Ellie ran her fingers across him and down, down…

He was very hard.

His face was all scrunched up as well when she pushed her hand into the waistline of his boxers.

Tom breathed heavily now as Ellie took him in her hand rubbing up and down.

He suddenly flipped them over so that Ellie was lying down on her back, and he was between her thighs. She made quick work of her shirt and bra, and then her nipples met with air.

Tom buried his face into her neck while he held her waist with one hand and a breast gently in the other.

He thrusted slowly so they were frotting against each other through their clothes. Though it wasn’t penetration, it was still incredibly hot, plus the way his crisp jeans brushed over her crotch in that one spot was-

Ellie moaned and slipped a hand between them and into her own pants. She fingered herself looking into Tom’s eyes, and he watched her movements with desperate eyes. Then, he stiffened before moaning as his hips moved in quick, fluttery movements chasing his pleasure.

Seeing Tom come was what pushed Ellie over the edge. 

He watched her come, too, which felt incredibly exposing yet undeniably sexy. 

When Ellie pulled her soaked fingers from her pants, she noticed the way his eyes followed the glistening liquid.

“Do you want to… taste?” She asked, still breathing hard.

He nodded, first smelling her fingers before flicking his tongue out.

It was a bit embarrassing until he pulled her fingers completely into his mouth and sucked them down like candy.

“Oh,  _ sweet Jesus _ .”

“It’s Tom, actually,” he joked when he released her fingers.

Ellie rolled her eyes and wiggled her bottom uncomfortably. “Think we need to clean up.”

He glanced down at his crotch, “Yeah.”

They showered separately, and Ellie told her mum she was staying with Luna for the night. They both knew it was a big, fat lie, especially when Alice sent back a winky face.

Tom gave her a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. He was in pajama pants but shirtless, and Ellie couldn’t avoid ogling him a bit.

“Like what you see?” He asked cockily.

Ellie then dropped her towel to the floor and pulled on the shirt then boxers, bending over dramatically to do so.

“The question is,” she said, turning around. “Do you?”

He was, indeed, hard.

“Um…”

Ellie stepped forward and kissed Tom. He wrapped his arms around her waist then bum where he squeezed appreciatively. Then, before she knew it, lifted her into the air.

She didn’t hesitate wrapping her legs around his waist and burying her hands in his hair.

“Don’t even know why we got dressed,” Tom whispered.

On the bed, Ellie climbed down his legs and toyed with the waistline of his boxers.

“Can I suck you, Tom?”

His eyes practically bulged at that. “Yeah! I mean, yeah.”

He cleared his throat.

He truly was so adorable.

Ellie pulled his boxers down to reveal his hard length. It was the most symmetrical penis she had ever seen, didn’t even do that tilting thing.

He hissed when she brought her lips to his head. This was going to be interesting, she thought, before licking it experimentally.

He keened. “Oh, fuck, Ellie…”

She pulled him into her mouth on one, quick slurp all the way to the hilt.

He gasped then panted, his hips bucking slightly.

“Oh, sorry, sorry! I’ll just-“

Ellie waved a hand at him and pulled at his hips to encourage his thrusts.

“Oh, God! Okay, yes.”

He thrusted harder after that, perhaps too hard making Ellie gag a little, but Tom was too far gone to notice.

When he came, it was with the sweetest cry Ellie had ever heard. He called her name, sweetly, with his hand curled into his own hair while he thrusted up into her throat.

They lay panting after that until Ellie went to wash the taste out of her mouth. It was certainly bitter but not bad. Nonetheless, she did Tom the courtesy and rubbed a bit of toothpaste around her mouth.

Tom looked thoroughly wrecked when she came back into the bedroom. What a sight he was, curly hair messier than usual despite the gel that was in it earlier that evening.

“Hey,” he whispered, ears turning red.

Once in bed, he pulled her close, and they talked for a little while before falling asleep.


	11. Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie wakes up at Tom's place...

Ellie was disoriented when she awoke. There was one thing that was familiar, however: the hardness pressing against her ass cheek. The night before came flooding back.

_ Oh _ , she had done things with Tom.  _ Holy fucking shit _ .

His arms were still wrapped around her and when she wiggled to free herself from them, his hips began rocking forward.

“Tom?” She whispered.

Silence, then: “Yeah?”

Ellie turned over and smiled pleasantly. “You’re awake.”

“So are you,” Tom said thrusting his hips forward.

She giggled. “Do you want more, Mr. Holland?”

He raised his fancy brow, the swirl more unruly than usual. “Is that even a question?”

Ellie smirked then murmured, “Do you want to fuck me?”

He let out a hiss at her words. 

They’re morning breath mingled, and they both cringed at the same time.

Tessa chose that moment to push the door open with her nose and do a twirl. Ellie was thankful for the intrusion because she wasn’t sure how she felt about having full on sex with Tom just yet. She’d never taken someone’s virginity before.

“I’ll go let her out,” Ellie offered.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll make some tea, too.”

Tom groaned appreciatively and stretched on the bed, lazily, like a big cat.

“You spoiled thing,” Ellie teased.

And he just grinned back.

The cool, morning air was brisk, to be polite. Tessa didn’t seem to mind and trotted around the backyard happily until finding a place that suited her interests.

Meanwhile, Ellie busied herself with the hot water and searched for all the necessary things.

It happened when Ellie was stirring the tea.

“Well, this is a surprise.”

Ellie jumped, nearly knocking the cup clear off the counter.

Harrison stood behind her, leaning on the island, chin in hand.

“Fucking hell!” She swore, hand to her heart, painfully aware she was wearing a thin white shirt and no bra. 

“Are you taking orders?”

Ellie rolled her eyes, “Not on duty. Sorry not sorry.”

“You’re a sassy little thing in the morning. I think I’ll make my own.”

She passed him, ignoring his words. On the stairs, she called over her shoulder, coolly, “Let Tessa in, will you?”

In the bedroom, Ellie found herself alone. She gingerly set down the tray of tea on the side table. Tom emerged from the bathroom, then, wrapped in a towel with water dripping down his body.

“You’ll never guess who I ran into downstairs,” she started, slightly nervous about the situation especially considering what happened the last time.

His back was to her, so she couldn’t see his face. “Harrison?”

“Scared the living daylights out of me.”

Tom finished drying off and turned around. “Hmm,” was all he had to say about the subject.

She wondered if she should have even mentioned it at all, but it would have felt dishonest if she hadn’t.

They drank their tea, and Tom gave her a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt that fit well as Tom was her size if not smaller. She assumed they were baggy on him but pulled slightly at the swell of her own bum. She hoped she would be able to keep them.

Downstairs, Harrison was nowhere to be found, and Tom made them breakfast.

“I’m not much of a cook,” he warned. “Sam stole all the genes for that one.”

Tessa sat at attention when he began frying the bacon. 

Over breakfast, they discussed their plans for the day.

“So,” Tom said casually, “How do you feel about a pub quiz?”

Ellie shrugged, “Dunno, it’s been a while I suppose. Why?”

He smiled mischievously. “Well, because it just so happens that there is one taking place just down the way tomorrow evening. And-”

He paused for emphasis, creating a nice drum roll. “Are you ready?”

“Um, yes?”

“I don’t think you are.”

“I’m ready, Tom.”

“I don’t think you are.”

“Tom. I’m ready.”

He lowered his head, staring into her eyes for added dramaticity. “It’s Marvel themed.”

Ellie couldn’t help herself but smile. “So, is that an invite, then?”

“Obviously,” he sputtered.

“Okay, then.”

Ellie was delighted that Tom had invited her anywhere, especially in public. It made this whole thing suddenly seem more real, but wouldn’t he be recognized, and it would turn into a whole thing? Was she ready for that kind of media attention?

Not really, but she definitely wasn’t ready to call it quits with Tom, either, so maybe this was a compromise.

Suddenly, Tom pinched her side, and Ellie shot out of her chair with a rather unattractive bark of laughter. “What was that for?!”

He grinned like a naughty toddler. “You just didn’t seem that enthusiastic, so I thought I would help you along.”

“That’s it.”

He looked concerned for a moment while Ellie went around the kitchen island they were seated at. Maybe he thought that she was leaving, but oh, how wrong he was. So quickly, she grabbed the spray nozzle and blasted the water straight at Tom.

“Ah! Ellie! What the fuck-”

Wait, was he actually mad? She turned the water off. “Tom?”

“Huh, so this is the whole playful you get me wet part?”

Ellie’s heart actually stopped in her chest. “Oh, my God Tom. I didn’t…”

This was it. She had finally ruined everything over, of all things, a dumb tickle fight. It was so embarrassing. What would she tell her family about their plans for New Year’s Eve? Surely, they would still be invited.

But there was something familiar about what he had said, and she cocked her head to the side. What movie was that from?

_ Bingo _ .

“Why make it sound cheap?” She countered.

“Because it is cheap. I’ve seen this scene a hundred times.”

Tom was grinning now as he wiped the water from his face with his forearm. She couldn’t believe how gullible she had been. He’d even said it in an American accent, for Christ’s sake.

“Oh, my God, Thomas Holland. You can’t do that to me!” Ellie complained, drying her hands on a dish towel then tossing it to Tom who was scrunching his nose.

“You sound like my mom.”

“You sound like Peter Parker.”

“Huh, I guess I do.”

“So how does one achieve imitating a brit imitating an american accent?”

“It’s a gift,” he replied with a shit eating grin.

She had a thought then, “Hey, have you met Robert Pattinson?”

He smiled coyly.

“What…”

“There have been talks about a project, but before you ask,” Tom rushed when Ellie opened her mouth. “I can’t s-”

“Say anything about it, I got it,” Ellie replied nonchalantly. 

“Christ, you’d think they would care more about their luggage than a damned cup of coffee,” Luna complained as she added the whipped cream to a peppermint frappe. “You know next week, they’re adding new flavours.”

Ellie nodded in sympathy, but secretly, she was looking forward to a change of combinations. It made things more interesting to say the least.

One of the things Ellie never tired of was looking for Tom’s face in the crowd of her customers. She daydreamed constantly that he would show up at the airport despite there being no reason to. It would be reassuring after the events of their previous date. She still needed to dish to Luna, however, was uncertain in case there was some sort of code against it. She didn’t know celebrity code. It was almost as if she needed a whole media training course.

As far as socials, Tom had been silent that day, but Ellie had an inbox full of mini-convos between her and Tom whenever she had a chance to catch a break from the incessant air traffic. That was the thing about the first shift, the time went by fast yet there was no break whatsoever. Personally, Ellie preferred the evening shift, but it was becoming more and more clear that her evenings would be filled with a certain someone. This was a small milestone to be celebrated over a glass of wine with Luna whenever she wasn’t busy with Tom.

If this whole thing became, well, a big thing, Ellie wondered what it would be like to get whisked away by this worldly businessman in town for a short period. It was… romantic.

“What’s got you in fairyland?” Luna teased. “Don’t tell me it’s Billy Elliot.”

That was their codename for Tom at work, though it wasn’t very good since it was common knowledge Tom had played the ballerina prodigy. 

“He is a good dancer,” Ellie replied, a secret smile on her lips.

“Oh, you totally have some tea to spill.”

“Well, our date went really well, and he invited me to a pub quiz this evening, Marvel themed.”

“ _ Shut up _ .”

“Okay, Princess Mia.”

Luna rolled her eyes at the movie reference. “So did you?”

She waggled her brows suggestively.

Ellie shrugged.

“Oh, my God. This is like a movie! You are literally the luckiest girl on the entire planet!”

Something came to mind just then that had been tripping up Ellie. “You know, something is off between you know who and Harrison.”

A raised eyebrow in response.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t  _ think _ H is being flirtatious.”

Luna’s expression turned cold just then.

_ Shit _ .

Did Luna still have a crush on Harrison? Ellie had thought it had dissipated. “Like I said, I don’t think he’s being flirtatious, but I think Billy Elliot might be the jealous type.”

Luna offered a sympathetic smile. “I hope you don’t have to go through that again. Please, Ellie, promise me you won’t let him put you through the wringer.”

Mind you, all of this was taking place between customer orders.

Ellie gave a nod of acknowledgment that she’d heard her and completed the next order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember Me is the movie they're talking about with Robert Pattinson. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out! Also, yes. Tom is alluding to The Devil All the Time


End file.
